La Vale, MD
La Vale wildfire risk explained
USFS scores La Vale at the 55th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,462 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts La Vale at the 53rd percentile, close to its 55th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
53.7% of La Vale's 2,462 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 46.3% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How La Vale compares
La Vale's 77th-percentile standing inside Maryland outpaces its 55th 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, La Vale ranks 14,308 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,372 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 125 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 55th national percentile, La Vale rates elevated 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 La Vale
Because 53.7% of La Vale's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,462 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for La Vale. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond La Vale, see the exposure-zones guide.