Gearhart, OR
Gearhart wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Gearhart lands at the 20th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 1,577 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gearhart at the 21st 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
Indirect exposure is dominant in Gearhart (70.1% of 1,577 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 29.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Gearhart against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Gearhart's 20th national percentile and its 14th percentile inside Oregon, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gearhart ranks 25,130 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,849 by building count (1 is largest). Within Oregon alone, it ranks 363 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Oregon on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because Gearhart is in Oregon, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Hardening a home in Gearhart
Gearhart's 70.1% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,577 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Gearhart. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Gearhart, see the exposure-zones guide.