Lavelle, PA
Lavelle wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Lavelle at the 55th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 469 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 Lavelle at the 53rd percentile, close to its 55th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
63.8% of Lavelle's 469 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 299 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 36.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Lavelle against the rest of the country
Lavelle's 92nd-percentile standing inside Pennsylvania 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, Lavelle ranks 14,067 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,906 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 171 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Lavelle and the insurance market
At the 55th national percentile, Lavelle rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Lavelle (63.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lavelle's 14,067-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Lavelle, see the exposure-zones guide.