Charlestown, MD
Charlestown, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Charlestown's 722 buildings earn a 42nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Charlestown at the 41st percentile, close to its 42nd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
60.9% of Charlestown's 722 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 440 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 38.6% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.4% are Minimal.
How Charlestown compares
Compare Charlestown's two percentiles: 61st within Maryland, only 42nd nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Charlestown ranks 18,154 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,422 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 207 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Charlestown's elevated wildfire rating (42nd 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
Charlestown's 60.9% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 722 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Charlestown. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Charlestown, see the exposure-zones guide.