Sodus, NY
Sodus wildfire risk explained
Sodus sits at the 10th 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 808 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sodus at the 10th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Sodus (54.7% of 808 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 45.3% sit in the Direct zone.
Sodus against the rest of the country
Sodus's risk sits at a similar level relative to New York (23rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (10th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sodus ranks 28,348 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,569 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 989 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Sodus and the insurance market
Sodus's low wildfire rating (10th 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 Sodus
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Sodus (54.7% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sodus's 28,348-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Sodus, see the exposure-zones guide.