Bay Center, WA
Bay Center, WA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bay Center lands at the 19th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 277 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bay Center's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 19th percentile nationally.
Bay Center's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Bay Center's 277 counted buildings, 62.8% carry Direct exposure and only 37.2% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Bay Center compares
Bay Center's risk sits at a similar level relative to Washington (27th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (19th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bay Center ranks 25,607 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,307 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 456 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bay Center
Bay Center's low rating (19th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Bay Center (62.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 277 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bay Center. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Bay Center, see the exposure-zones guide.