Oyster Bay, NY
Oyster Bay wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Oyster Bay lands at the 37th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 2,186 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oyster Bay's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 36th percentile nationally.
Where Oyster Bay's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 88.3% of Oyster Bay's 2,186 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 11.5% Direct and 0.2% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Oyster Bay ranks
Oyster Bay's 79th-percentile standing inside New York outpaces its 37th 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, Oyster Bay ranks 19,980 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,974 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 273 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Oyster Bay's moderate rating (37th 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 Oyster Bay
Oyster Bay's 88.3% 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 Oyster Bay's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Oyster Bay's 19,980-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Oyster Bay's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.