Montvale, NJ
Montvale wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Montvale at the 25th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 2,776 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Montvale's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 25th percentile nationally.
Montvale's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Montvale: 65.3% of its 2,776 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 34.7% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Montvale against the rest of the country
Montvale scores 25th nationally and 15th within New Jersey — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montvale ranks 23,737 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,812 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 595 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Montvale
Montvale's moderate wildfire rating (25th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Montvale's 65.3% 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 Montvale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,776 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montvale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Montvale's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.