North Cape May, NJ
How exposed is North Cape May to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, North Cape May lands at the 58th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 3,392 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts North Cape May at the 54th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
North Cape May's building exposure, zone by zone
North Cape May rates 61.8% Minimal exposure against just 5.4% Direct and 32.8% Indirect — of 3,392 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Where North Cape May ranks
North Cape May's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (67th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (58th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Cape May ranks 13,243 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,928 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 232 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
North Cape May and the insurance market
North Cape May's elevated rating (58th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in North Cape May
North Cape May's 61.8% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where North Cape May's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,392 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for North Cape May. The exposure-zones guide covers what North Cape May's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.