Golden Beach, MD
Golden Beach wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Golden Beach lands at the 54th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,633 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Golden Beach at the 54th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Golden Beach's building exposure, zone by zone
83.5% of Golden Beach's 1,633 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,363 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 13.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 2.6% are Minimal.
Where Golden Beach ranks
Within Maryland, Golden Beach ranks higher (76th percentile) than it does nationally (54th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Golden Beach ranks 14,402 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,640 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 127 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Golden Beach
Golden Beach's elevated rating (54th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Golden Beach
Because Direct exposure dominates in Golden Beach (83.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Golden Beach's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Golden Beach's 14,402-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Golden Beach's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.