Chester, MA
Chester wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Chester at the 22nd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 365 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Chester's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 22nd percentile nationally.
Chester's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Chester: 74.3% of its 365 buildings, versus 25.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Chester ranks
There's little gap between Chester's 22nd national percentile and its 29th percentile inside Massachusetts, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chester ranks 24,615 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,962 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 177 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Chester
Chester's moderate rating (22nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Chester's 74.3% 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 365 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Chester. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Chester, see the exposure-zones guide.