Catawba County, NC
Wildfire Risk Assessment & Home Hardening ROI Analysis
Wildfire Risk Overview
Catawba County in North Carolina is in the 32nd percentile nationally for risk to homes, the low risk category. Catawba County's mean risk to homes ranks at the 32nd percentile of U.S. counties: at or above 32% of them (USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities). This is a rank among counties, not a dollar loss.
Catawba County's mean annual burn probability is at or above 35% of U.S. counties (national percentile rank, USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities). A percentile rank compares counties with one another. It is not the chance that a fire reaches a home in a given year. Catawba County's mean annual burn probability is 0.02% a year: the average across its wildfire-exposed land (USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities, 2026 county summary). It is a county figure, not a forecast for any one home. About 22% of the county's buildings sit in the minimal-exposure zone, where the chance is lower.
No Wildland-Urban Interface class is published for Catawba County in our dataset, so none is shown. Homes in WUI areas face elevated wildfire exposure due to proximity to fire-prone vegetation.
National Risk Percentile
32/100
A rank among U.S. counties
Annual Burn Probability
0.02% a year
Likelihood rank: at or above 35% of U.S. counties
WUI Class
N/A
FHSZ Tier
N/A
Source: USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities, county summary, 2026 release (doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2024-0030).
Insurance & Market Context
Insurance rules differ by state. The California FAIR Plan and its Safer from Wildfires discounts apply to California homes. For Catawba County in North Carolina, ask your insurer or your state insurance department which wildfire-mitigation discounts and coverage options apply to your home.
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This page shows default estimates for a typical home. Enter your actual home details — square footage, construction year, insurance premium, and replacement value — to get a personalized hardening ROI analysis for Catawba County.
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Data Sources & Methodology
Burn probability and the national percentile ranks come from the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities (WRC) county summary, 2026 release (doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2024-0030). Fire hazard severity zones are from CalFire FRAP. Insurance discount estimates follow the California Department of Insurance Safer from Wildfires framework. Hardening cost estimates are reference ranges informed by IBHS guidance with a regional cost multiplier; they are estimates, not contractor quotes. Financial projections use a discount rate based on the 10-year Treasury yield and an insurance price inflation assumption; each paid answer reports the exact rates it used. All calculations are deterministic with no AI-generated content.