Poolesville, MD
Poolesville wildfire risk explained
Poolesville's 1,844 buildings earn a 15th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Poolesville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 15th percentile nationally.
Where Poolesville's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Poolesville: 61.5% of its 1,844 buildings, versus 36.9% Indirect and 1.6% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Poolesville against the rest of the country
Poolesville's risk sits at a similar level relative to Maryland (15th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (15th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Poolesville ranks 26,662 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,927 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 447 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Poolesville's low rating (15th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Poolesville's 61.5% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Poolesville's figures come from
Poolesville's 15th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Poolesville's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.