Mertztown, PA
Mertztown, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Mertztown's 411 buildings earn a 18th-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, Mertztown's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
Where Mertztown's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Mertztown: 67.2% of its 411 buildings, versus 32.9% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Mertztown compares
Mertztown's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (19th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (18th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mertztown ranks 25,858 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,016 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,613 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Mertztown and the insurance market
Mertztown's low wildfire rating (18th 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.
Hardening a home in Mertztown
With 67.2% of Mertztown in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 411 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mertztown. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Mertztown, see the exposure-zones guide.