Cutter, AZ
Cutter, AZ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Cutter lands at the 89th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 72 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cutter at the 90th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Cutter's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Cutter: 88.9% of its 72 buildings, versus 11.1% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Cutter against the rest of the country
Cutter ranks lower within Arizona (62nd percentile statewide) than its 89th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cutter ranks 3,328 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,196 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arizona alone, it ranks 169 of 441 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arizona on its state page.
Cutter and the insurance market
Cutter's 89th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With 88.9% of Cutter in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Cutter's figures come from
Cutter's 89th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Cutter's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.