Williamsburg, VA
How exposed is Williamsburg to wildfire?
USFS scores Williamsburg at the 45th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 5,243 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Williamsburg's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 45th percentile nationally.
Where Williamsburg's buildings actually sit
63.6% of Williamsburg's 5,243 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 35.5% Direct and 1% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 5,243 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Williamsburg ranks
Williamsburg scores 45th nationally and 42nd within Virginia — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Williamsburg ranks 17,508 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,289 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 397 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Williamsburg
Williamsburg's elevated wildfire rating (45th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Williamsburg
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Williamsburg (63.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Williamsburg's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Williamsburg's 17,508-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Williamsburg's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.