Phelps, NY
Phelps, NY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Phelps at the 4th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 917 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Phelps at the 4th percentile, close to its 4th-percentile risk score.
Phelps's building exposure, zone by zone
52.9% of Phelps's 917 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 47.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Phelps ranks
Phelps scores 4th nationally and 2nd within New York — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Phelps ranks 30,393 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,581 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,262 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Phelps
Phelps's low rating (4th 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 Phelps
Even with 52.9% of Phelps outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Phelps's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Phelps's 30,393-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Phelps's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.