Peterborough, NH
Peterborough wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Peterborough at the 21st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 1,204 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Peterborough at the 21st national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Peterborough's buildings actually sit
56.7% of Peterborough's 1,204 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 683 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 43.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Peterborough ranks
Peterborough's 69th-percentile standing inside New Hampshire outpaces its 21st 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, Peterborough ranks 25,027 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,624 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Hampshire alone, it ranks 32 of 100 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Hampshire on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Peterborough
Peterborough's moderate wildfire rating (21st 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.
Hardening a home in Peterborough
Because Direct exposure dominates in Peterborough (56.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Peterborough's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Peterborough's 25,027-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Peterborough's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.