Central City, PA
How exposed is Central City to wildfire?
Central City sits at the 50th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 695 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 Central City at the 48th percentile, close to its 50th-percentile risk score.
Central City's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Central City (79% of 695 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 21% sit in the Direct zone.
Central City against the rest of the country
Compare Central City's two percentiles: 81st within Pennsylvania, only 50th nationally — a gap of 31 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Central City ranks 15,831 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,723 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 371 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Central City and the insurance market
At the 50th national percentile, Central City 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Central City (79% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Central City's 15,831-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Central City, see the exposure-zones guide.