Bay Head, NJ
How exposed is Bay Head to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bay Head at the 68th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,216 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bay Head at the 60th national percentile — 8 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Bay Head's buildings actually sit
99.1% of Bay Head's 1,216 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 0.9% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Bay Head against the rest of the country
Bay Head scores 68th nationally and 79th within New Jersey — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bay Head ranks 9,964 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,556 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 151 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bay Head
At the 68th percentile nationally, Bay Head 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.
Hardening a home in Bay Head
With 99.1% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Bay Head gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Bay Head's figures come from
Bay Head's 68th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bay Head's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.