Medford, MA
Medford, MA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Medford lands at the 28th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 15,677 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Medford at the 22nd national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Medford's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Medford's buildings (59.9% of 15,677) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 15,677 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Medford compares
Medford's 66th-percentile standing inside Massachusetts outpaces its 28th 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, Medford ranks 22,599 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 941 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 83 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
Medford and the insurance market
At the 28th national percentile, Medford rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 59.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Medford gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Medford's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 15,677 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Medford. The exposure-zones guide covers what Medford's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.