North Potomac, MD
North Potomac, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores North Potomac at the 16th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 6,180 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks North Potomac at the 15th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
42.4% of North Potomac's 6,180 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,618 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 27% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 30.7% are Minimal. At 6,180 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How North Potomac compares
North Potomac's risk sits at a similar level relative to Maryland (17th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (16th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Potomac ranks 26,506 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,808 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 441 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
North Potomac's low rating (16th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 42.4% of North Potomac in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where North Potomac's figures come from
North Potomac's 16th-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 North Potomac's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.