Elma Center, NY
Elma Center, NY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Elma Center at the 29th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 1,530 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Elma Center at the 29th percentile, close to its 29th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Elma Center: 96.2% of its 1,530 buildings, versus 2.6% Indirect and 1.2% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Elma Center compares
Elma Center's 60th-percentile standing inside New York outpaces its 29th 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, Elma Center ranks 22,473 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,037 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 512 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Elma Center
At the 29th national percentile, Elma Center rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Elma Center
Because Direct exposure dominates in Elma Center (96.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Elma Center's figures come from
Elma Center's 29th-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 Elma Center's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.