Mercer, PA
How exposed is Mercer to wildfire?
Mercer's 1,044 buildings earn a 33rd-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 Mercer at the 34th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Mercer's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Mercer's buildings (76.9%) 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.
Mercer against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Mercer's 33rd national percentile and its 46th percentile inside Pennsylvania, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mercer ranks 21,001 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,636 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,078 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
Mercer's moderate rating (33rd 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
Because 76.9% of Mercer's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Mercer's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,044 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mercer. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mercer's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.