Chester, TX
How exposed is Chester to wildfire?
Chester sits at the 81st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 265 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Chester at the 82nd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Chester's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 88.7% of Chester's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 11.3% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 235 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Chester ranks
Chester's 81st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 62nd ranking inside Texas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 18 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chester ranks 6,127 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,683 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 671 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Chester and the insurance market
Chester's very high rating (81st percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Chester
Chester's 88.7% 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 265 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Chester. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Chester, see the exposure-zones guide.