Reston, VA
How exposed is Reston to wildfire?
USFS scores Reston at the 18th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 9,365 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 Reston at the 18th percentile, close to its 18th-percentile risk score.
Reston's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 56.9% of Reston's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 15.3% Indirect share and far above its 27.7% Minimal share — a profile where 5,332 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 9,365 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Reston ranks
Reston's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (10th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (18th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Reston ranks 25,731 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,751 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 616 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Reston and the insurance market
Reston's low wildfire rating (18th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Reston (56.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Reston's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 9,365 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Reston. The exposure-zones guide covers what Reston's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.