Reisterstown, MD
How exposed is Reisterstown to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Reisterstown lands at the 18th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 5,743 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Reisterstown's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
Where Reisterstown's buildings actually sit
5,743 buildings are counted in Reisterstown, and 55.6% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 36% in Direct exposure or the 8.5% rated Minimal. At 5,743 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Reisterstown compares
Reisterstown scores 18th nationally and 21st within Maryland — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Reisterstown ranks 25,843 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,008 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 417 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Reisterstown and the insurance market
At the 18th national percentile, Reisterstown rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 55.6% of Reisterstown's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Reisterstown's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 5,743 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Reisterstown. The exposure-zones guide covers what Reisterstown's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.