Gary, WV
Gary wildfire risk explained
Gary sits at the 87th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 584 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Gary's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 89th percentile nationally.
Gary's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 67.3% of Gary's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 32.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 393 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Gary compares
There's little gap between Gary's 87th national percentile and its 76th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gary ranks 4,173 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,056 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 102 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 87th percentile nationally, Gary carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Gary
Because Direct exposure dominates in Gary (67.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Gary's 4,173-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Gary, see the exposure-zones guide.