Meridian, NY
Meridian wildfire risk explained
Meridian's 165 buildings earn a 6th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Meridian's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 6th percentile nationally.
Meridian's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Meridian's 165 counted buildings, 68.5% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Meridian against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Meridian's 6th national percentile and its 11th percentile inside New York, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Meridian ranks 29,514 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,229 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,152 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Meridian's low rating (6th 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 Direct exposure dominates in Meridian (68.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Meridian's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Meridian's 29,514-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Meridian's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.