Elmira, NY
Elmira, NY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Elmira at the 26th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 10,404 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Elmira's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 26th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Elmira (83.2% of 10,404 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 6.4% sit in the Direct zone. At 10,404 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Elmira against the rest of the country
Elmira's 55th-percentile standing inside New York outpaces its 26th 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, Elmira ranks 23,298 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,529 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 587 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Elmira and the insurance market
Elmira's moderate rating (26th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 83.2% of Elmira's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Elmira's 26th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Elmira, see the exposure-zones guide.