McDonald, PA
McDonald, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts McDonald at the 38th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,008 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 McDonald at the 40th percentile, close to its 38th-percentile risk score.
McDonald's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in McDonald (93% of 1,008 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 7% sit in the Direct zone.
Where McDonald ranks
Within Pennsylvania, McDonald ranks higher (59th percentile) than it does nationally (38th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McDonald ranks 19,429 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,879 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 828 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
McDonald and the insurance market
McDonald's moderate wildfire rating (38th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in McDonald (93% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where McDonald's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind McDonald's 19,429-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what McDonald's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.