Harpster, OH
Harpster, OH's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Harpster lands at the 6th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 194 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Harpster's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 6th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 45.4% of Harpster's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 39.2% Direct and 15.5% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Harpster against the rest of the country
Harpster's 25th-percentile standing inside Ohio outpaces its 6th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Harpster ranks 29,794 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,094 by building count (1 is largest). Within Ohio alone, it ranks 945 of 1,264 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Ohio on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Harpster's low rating (6th 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
Even with 45.4% of Harpster 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 Harpster's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Harpster's 29,794-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Harpster's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.