Meridian, PA
How exposed is Meridian to wildfire?
Meridian sits at the 30th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,072 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Meridian at the 31st national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Meridian's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Meridian: 58.2% of its 2,072 buildings, versus 41.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Meridian against the rest of the country
Meridian scores 30th nationally and 38th within Pennsylvania — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Meridian ranks 22,108 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,281 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,238 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
Meridian's moderate wildfire rating (30th 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
Meridian's 58.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Meridian's figures come from
Meridian's 30th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Meridian's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.