Newtok, AK
How exposed is Newtok to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Newtok lands at the 57th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 58 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Newtok at the 68th national percentile — 10 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Newtok's buildings (84.5%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Newtok ranks
Newtok's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (46th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (57th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Newtok ranks 13,477 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,698 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 174 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Newtok and the insurance market
At the 57th national percentile, Newtok rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 84.5% of Newtok'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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Newtok's 13,477-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Newtok, see the exposure-zones guide.