Glens Falls, NY
Glens Falls wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Glens Falls lands at the 25th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 5,756 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Glens Falls's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 22nd percentile nationally.
Where Glens Falls's buildings actually sit
68% of Glens Falls's 5,756 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 8.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 5,756 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Glens Falls ranks
Within New York, Glens Falls ranks higher (52nd percentile) than it does nationally (25th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Glens Falls ranks 23,674 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,003 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 615 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Glens Falls and the insurance market
Glens Falls's moderate wildfire rating (25th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 68% of Glens Falls outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Glens Falls's figures come from
Glens Falls's 25th-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 Glens Falls's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.