Skaneateles, NY
How exposed is Skaneateles to wildfire?
Skaneateles sits at the 6th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,477 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Skaneateles at the 5th percentile, close to its 6th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
46.8% of Skaneateles's 1,477 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 691 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 30.4% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 22.8% are Minimal.
Skaneateles against the rest of the country
Skaneateles scores 6th nationally and 7th within New York — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Skaneateles ranks 29,768 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,274 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,197 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Skaneateles's low rating (6th 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
With 46.8% of Skaneateles in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,477 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Skaneateles. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Skaneateles, see the exposure-zones guide.