Bethesda, OH
Bethesda, OH's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bethesda at the 44th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 779 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bethesda at the 46th percentile, close to its 44th-percentile risk score.
Bethesda's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Bethesda (65.6% of 779 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 34.4% sit in the Direct zone.
How Bethesda compares
Compare Bethesda's two percentiles: 95th within Ohio, only 44th nationally — a gap of 51 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bethesda ranks 17,695 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,828 by building count (1 is largest). Within Ohio alone, it ranks 61 of 1,264 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Ohio on its state page.
Bethesda and the insurance market
Bethesda's elevated rating (44th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bethesda (65.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Bethesda's 44th-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 Bethesda, see the exposure-zones guide.