Pepperell, MA
How exposed is Pepperell to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Pepperell lands at the 46th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 915 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Pepperell at the 41st percentile, close to its 46th-percentile risk score.
Pepperell's building exposure, zone by zone
57.8% of Pepperell's 915 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 42% Direct and 0.2% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Pepperell compares
Pepperell's 99th-percentile standing inside Massachusetts outpaces its 46th 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, Pepperell ranks 17,048 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,592 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 4 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Pepperell's elevated rating (46th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Pepperell's 57.8% 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 915 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Pepperell. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Pepperell, see the exposure-zones guide.