White Lake, NC
White Lake, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
White Lake's 1,993 buildings earn a 85th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts White Lake at the 84th percentile, close to its 85th-percentile risk score.
Where White Lake's buildings actually sit
Most of White Lake's buildings (77.4%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
White Lake against the rest of the country
White Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (94th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (85th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, White Lake ranks 4,642 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,499 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 49 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in White Lake
White Lake's very high rating (85th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in White Lake (77.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where White Lake's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,993 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for White Lake. The exposure-zones guide covers what White Lake's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.