Hillsborough, NJ
Hillsborough wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Hillsborough at the 29th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 4,638 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Hillsborough at the 30th percentile, close to its 29th-percentile risk score.
Where Hillsborough's buildings actually sit
47.2% of Hillsborough's 4,638 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 43.2% Direct and 9.6% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Hillsborough compares
Hillsborough scores 29th nationally and 24th within New Jersey — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hillsborough ranks 22,346 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,665 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 533 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hillsborough
At the 29th national percentile, Hillsborough rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Hillsborough (47.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Hillsborough's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,638 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Hillsborough. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hillsborough's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.