Oxford, MA
Oxford wildfire risk explained
Oxford's 2,646 buildings earn a 29th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Oxford at the 27th percentile, close to its 29th-percentile risk score.
Where Oxford's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Oxford (73.4% of 2,646 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 26.6% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Oxford ranks
Oxford's 74th-percentile standing inside Massachusetts outpaces its 29th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oxford ranks 22,252 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,023 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 67 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
Oxford and the insurance market
Oxford's moderate wildfire rating (29th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Oxford's 73.4% 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.
Where Oxford's figures come from
Oxford's 29th-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 Oxford's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.