Montpelier, VT
How exposed is Montpelier to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Montpelier at the 13th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 3,375 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Montpelier at the 13th percentile, close to its 13th-percentile risk score.
Where Montpelier's buildings actually sit
3,375 buildings are counted in Montpelier, and 57.4% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 42.6% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Montpelier against the rest of the country
Montpelier scores 13th nationally and 21st 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, Montpelier ranks 27,437 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,950 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 142 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Montpelier and the insurance market
At the 13th national percentile, Montpelier rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 57.4% of Montpelier'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 Montpelier's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,375 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montpelier. The exposure-zones guide covers what Montpelier's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.