Boxford, MA
How exposed is Boxford to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Boxford lands at the 42nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,042 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Boxford at the 36th percentile, close to its 42nd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
97.6% of Boxford's 1,042 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,017 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 2.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.1% are Minimal.
Where Boxford ranks
Within Massachusetts, Boxford ranks higher (97th percentile) than it does nationally (42nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Boxford ranks 18,399 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,642 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 8 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 42nd national percentile, Boxford rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Boxford's 97.6% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Boxford's 42nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Boxford, see the exposure-zones guide.