Bensville, MD
Bensville, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Bensville sits at the 40th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 5,100 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bensville at the 40th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
81.7% of Bensville's 5,100 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 4,165 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 18.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal. At 5,100 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Bensville against the rest of the country
Within Maryland, Bensville ranks higher (59th percentile) than it does nationally (40th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bensville ranks 18,842 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,379 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 219 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Bensville and the insurance market
Bensville's elevated rating (40th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Bensville
Because Direct exposure dominates in Bensville (81.7%), 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 5,100 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bensville. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Bensville, see the exposure-zones guide.