Boston, VA
Boston, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Boston at the 50th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 260 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Boston's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 49th percentile nationally.
Where Boston's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Boston: 79.2% of its 260 buildings, versus 20.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Boston against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Boston's 50th national percentile and its 53rd percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Boston ranks 15,774 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,841 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 319 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Boston's elevated rating (50th 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 Boston
With 79.2% of Boston in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Boston's 15,774-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Boston, see the exposure-zones guide.