Oil City, PA
How exposed is Oil City to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Oil City lands at the 33rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 4,626 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oil City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 31st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
82.1% of Oil City's 4,626 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 17.8% Direct and 0.1% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Oil City ranks
Oil City's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (44th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (33rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oil City ranks 21,251 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,675 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,122 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Oil City
Oil City's moderate wildfire rating (33rd 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
Oil City's 82.1% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,626 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Oil City. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Oil City, see the exposure-zones guide.