Morgantown, WV
How exposed is Morgantown to wildfire?
Morgantown sits at the 34th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 8,072 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Morgantown at the 35th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Morgantown's buildings actually sit
Only 9.2% of Morgantown's 8,072 buildings carry Direct exposure and 20.8% carry Indirect; the remaining 70% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure. At 8,072 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Morgantown against the rest of the country
Morgantown ranks lower within West Virginia (4th percentile statewide) than its 34th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Morgantown ranks 20,912 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,079 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 411 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 34th national percentile, Morgantown rates moderate 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
Even with 70% of Morgantown outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Morgantown's figures come from
Morgantown's 34th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Morgantown's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.