Saco, ME
Saco, ME's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Saco at the 20th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 8,989 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Saco's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 20th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 51.6% of Saco's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 26.8% Indirect share and far above its 21.6% Minimal share — a profile where 4,640 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 8,989 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Saco ranks
Saco's 87th-percentile standing inside Maine outpaces its 20th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Saco ranks 25,085 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,849 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 22 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Saco's moderate wildfire rating (20th 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.
Hardening a home in Saco
Saco's 51.6% 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 Saco's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Saco's 25,085-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Saco's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.