Waves, NC
Waves, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Waves at the 63rd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 455 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Waves at the 51st national percentile — 12 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 89% of Waves's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 11% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Waves ranks
Waves scores 63rd nationally and 61st within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waves ranks 11,798 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,181 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 302 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
At the 63rd percentile nationally, Waves carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 89% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Waves gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
Waves's 63rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Waves, see the exposure-zones guide.