Galesville, MD
Galesville, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Galesville lands at the 47th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 501 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Galesville at the 47th national percentile — 0 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
75.7% of Galesville's 501 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 379 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 16.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 8.2% are Minimal.
How Galesville compares
Compare Galesville's two percentiles: 66th within Maryland, only 47th nationally — a gap of 19 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Galesville ranks 16,824 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,335 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 180 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Galesville
At the 47th national percentile, Galesville rates elevated 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 Galesville
Galesville's 75.7% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Galesville's 47th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Galesville, see the exposure-zones guide.