Dorchester, NJ
Dorchester wildfire risk explained
Dorchester's 177 buildings earn a 85th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Dorchester at the 82nd percentile, close to its 85th-percentile risk score.
Dorchester's building exposure, zone by zone
70.6% of Dorchester's 177 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 125 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 28.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 1.1% are Minimal.
How Dorchester compares
Dorchester scores 85th nationally and 89th within New Jersey — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dorchester ranks 4,897 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,758 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 80 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Dorchester
Dorchester's very high rating (85th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 70.6% of Dorchester 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 Dorchester's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Dorchester's 4,897-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Dorchester's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.