Berlin, NH
Berlin, NH's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Berlin lands at the 9th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 4,468 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Berlin at the 9th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Berlin's building exposure, zone by zone
87.9% of Berlin's 4,468 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 12.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Berlin ranks
Berlin's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Hampshire (3rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (9th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Berlin ranks 28,778 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,822 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Hampshire alone, it ranks 97 of 100 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Hampshire on its state page.
Berlin and the insurance market
Berlin's low wildfire rating (9th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Berlin's 87.9% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Berlin's 9th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Berlin, see the exposure-zones guide.