Chittenden, VT
Chittenden wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Chittenden lands at the 18th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 100 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Chittenden at the 18th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Chittenden's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Chittenden's 100 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Chittenden ranks
Chittenden's 81st-percentile standing inside Vermont outpaces its 18th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chittenden ranks 25,891 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,058 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 35 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Chittenden
At the 18th national percentile, Chittenden rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Chittenden (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 100 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Chittenden. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Chittenden, see the exposure-zones guide.