Hampstead, MD
How exposed is Hampstead to wildfire?
Hampstead's 1,652 buildings earn a 8th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hampstead at the 7th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Hampstead's buildings (47.2%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Hampstead ranks
Hampstead scores 8th nationally and 3rd within Maryland — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hampstead ranks 28,904 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,590 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 513 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Hampstead and the insurance market
Hampstead's low rating (8th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Hampstead (47.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Hampstead's 8th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Hampstead, see the exposure-zones guide.