Salem, NY
How exposed is Salem to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Salem at the 23rd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 638 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Salem at the 23rd percentile, close to its 23rd-percentile risk score.
Salem's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Salem (60% of 638 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 40% sit in the Direct zone.
Salem against the rest of the country
Compare Salem's two percentiles: 49th within New York, only 23rd nationally — a gap of 26 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Salem ranks 24,307 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,365 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 659 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Salem and the insurance market
Salem's moderate wildfire rating (23rd 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Salem (60% 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
Salem's 23rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Salem, see the exposure-zones guide.