Edgewater, NJ
How exposed is Edgewater to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Edgewater lands at the 18th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 1,203 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Edgewater at the 19th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
80.3% of Edgewater's 1,203 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 3.5% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Edgewater against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Edgewater's 18th national percentile and its 3rd percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Edgewater ranks 25,780 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,630 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 675 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 18th national percentile, Edgewater rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 80.3% of Edgewater outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Edgewater's figures come from
Edgewater's 18th-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 Edgewater's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.