Union Level, VA
Union Level wildfire risk explained
Union Level sits at the 38th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 179 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Union Level at the 39th percentile, close to its 38th-percentile risk score.
Where Union Level's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Union Level: 84.4% of its 179 buildings, versus 15.6% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Union Level compares
Union Level's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (29th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (38th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Union Level ranks 19,586 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,692 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 484 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Union Level's moderate rating (38th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Union Level
Because Direct exposure dominates in Union Level (84.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Union Level's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Union Level's 19,586-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Union Level's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.