Plainsboro Center, NJ
Plainsboro Center, NJ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Plainsboro Center's 603 buildings earn a 40th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Plainsboro Center at the 41st percentile, close to its 40th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Plainsboro Center (70.5% of 603 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 26% sit in the Direct zone.
Plainsboro Center against the rest of the country
Plainsboro Center's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (43rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (40th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Plainsboro Center ranks 19,034 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,802 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 403 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 40th national percentile, Plainsboro Center rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Plainsboro Center
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Plainsboro Center (70.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 603 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Plainsboro Center. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Plainsboro Center, see the exposure-zones guide.