Mars, PA
Mars, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Mars at the 29th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 607 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Mars at the 30th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Mars's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Mars's buildings (88.1%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Mars compares
There's little gap between Mars's 29th national percentile and its 37th percentile inside Pennsylvania, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mars ranks 22,358 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,736 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,267 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Mars's moderate rating (29th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Mars (88.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 607 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mars. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Mars, see the exposure-zones guide.