Wilmington, NC
How exposed is Wilmington to wildfire?
USFS scores Wilmington at the 80th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 40,704 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Wilmington's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
Wilmington's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Wilmington's buildings (61.8% of 40,704) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 40,704 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Wilmington compares
Wilmington scores 80th nationally and 85th 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, Wilmington ranks 6,305 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 237 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 114 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Wilmington
At the 80th percentile nationally, Wilmington 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Wilmington's 61.8% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Wilmington's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 40,704 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wilmington. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wilmington's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.