Bridgewater Center, NJ
Bridgewater Center, NJ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Bridgewater Center sits at the 25th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,274 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bridgewater Center at the 25th percentile, close to its 25th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Bridgewater Center's 2,274 counted buildings, 84.9% carry Direct exposure and only 5.6% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Bridgewater Center ranks
Bridgewater Center scores 25th nationally and 16th within New Jersey — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bridgewater Center ranks 23,640 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,764 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 588 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bridgewater Center's moderate wildfire rating (25th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Bridgewater Center's 84.9% 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.
Where Bridgewater Center's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,274 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bridgewater Center. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bridgewater Center's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.