Palm Beach, FL
Palm Beach, FL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Palm Beach's 3,727 buildings earn a 49th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Palm Beach's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 50th percentile nationally.
Where Palm Beach's buildings actually sit
Most of Palm Beach's buildings (97% of 3,727) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
How Palm Beach compares
Palm Beach's 49th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 4th ranking inside Florida does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 46 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Palm Beach ranks 16,039 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,497 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 922 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 49th national percentile, Palm Beach rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 97% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Palm Beach gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Palm Beach's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,727 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Palm Beach. The exposure-zones guide covers what Palm Beach's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.