Bethel, CT
Bethel, CT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Bethel at the 40th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 6,709 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bethel's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 39th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
59.6% of Bethel's 6,709 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 38.5% Direct and 1.9% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 6,709 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Bethel ranks
Compare Bethel's two percentiles: 80th within Connecticut, only 40th nationally — a gap of 40 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bethel ranks 18,898 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,581 by building count (1 is largest). Within Connecticut alone, it ranks 44 of 214 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Connecticut on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bethel's moderate 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 59.6% of Bethel's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Bethel's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bethel's 18,898-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bethel's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.