Montoursville, PA
Montoursville wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Montoursville at the 43rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,628 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Montoursville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 42nd percentile nationally.
Montoursville's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Montoursville (93.7% of 2,628 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 6.3% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Montoursville ranks
Within Pennsylvania, Montoursville ranks higher (69th percentile) than it does nationally (43rd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montoursville ranks 17,979 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,053 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 618 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
Montoursville's elevated wildfire rating (43rd 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
Montoursville's 93.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Montoursville's 17,979-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Montoursville, see the exposure-zones guide.