Milton, VT
How exposed is Milton to wildfire?
Milton sits at the 11th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,488 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Milton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 11th percentile nationally.
Milton's building exposure, zone by zone
1,488 buildings are counted in Milton, and 58.9% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 40.9% in Direct exposure or the 0.1% rated Minimal.
How Milton compares
Milton scores 11th nationally and 7th within Vermont — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Milton ranks 27,971 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,218 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 167 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Milton and the insurance market
Milton's low wildfire rating (11th 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
Because 58.9% of Milton'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 Milton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Milton's 27,971-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Milton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.