McKnightstown, PA
McKnightstown, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
McKnightstown's 275 buildings earn a 38th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks McKnightstown at the 38th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
83.3% of McKnightstown's 275 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 229 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 16.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where McKnightstown ranks
Within Pennsylvania, McKnightstown ranks higher (58th 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, McKnightstown ranks 19,459 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,368 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 833 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
McKnightstown and the insurance market
McKnightstown's moderate rating (38th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in McKnightstown
Because Direct exposure dominates in McKnightstown (83.3%), 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 McKnightstown's 19,459-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond McKnightstown, see the exposure-zones guide.