Wake Forest, NC
Wake Forest, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Wake Forest lands at the 33rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 15,844 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wake Forest at the 34th percentile, close to its 33rd-percentile risk score.
Where Wake Forest's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 44.7% of Wake Forest's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 33.7% Indirect share and far above its 21.6% Minimal share — a profile where 7,078 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 15,844 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Wake Forest ranks
Wake Forest ranks lower within North Carolina (5th percentile statewide) than its 33rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wake Forest ranks 21,183 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 928 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 733 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Wake Forest's moderate rating (33rd 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 Wake Forest
With 44.7% of Wake Forest in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Wake Forest's 33rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Wake Forest, see the exposure-zones guide.