Highland Acres, DE
How exposed is Highland Acres to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Highland Acres lands at the 39th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 1,551 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Highland Acres at the 38th 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
USFS classifies 59.1% of Highland Acres's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 40.9% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Highland Acres against the rest of the country
Highland Acres scores 39th nationally and 44th within Delaware — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Highland Acres ranks 19,092 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,948 by building count (1 is largest). Within Delaware alone, it ranks 46 of 79 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Delaware on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 39th national percentile, Highland Acres rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Highland Acres
Even with 59.1% of Highland Acres 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 Highland Acres's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Highland Acres's 19,092-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Highland Acres's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.