Big Pool, MD
Big Pool, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Big Pool at the 52nd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 54 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Big Pool's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 53rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
54 buildings are counted in Big Pool, and 88.9% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How Big Pool compares
Big Pool's 72nd-percentile standing inside Maryland outpaces its 52nd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Pool ranks 15,066 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,816 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 146 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Big Pool's elevated rating (52nd 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 Big Pool
Because Direct exposure dominates in Big Pool (88.9%), 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Big Pool's 15,066-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Big Pool, see the exposure-zones guide.