Caldwell, NJ
Caldwell, NJ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Caldwell at the 28th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,971 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 Caldwell at the 29th percentile, close to its 28th-percentile risk score.
Where Caldwell's buildings actually sit
Caldwell rates 61.4% Minimal exposure against just 38.6% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 1,971 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Caldwell against the rest of the country
Caldwell's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (22nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (28th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Caldwell ranks 22,723 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,559 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 548 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Caldwell and the insurance market
Caldwell's moderate rating (28th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 61.4% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Caldwell gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Caldwell's figures come from
Caldwell's 28th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Caldwell's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.