Sound Beach, NY
Sound Beach wildfire risk explained
Sound Beach sits at the 49th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,874 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 Sound Beach at the 45th percentile, close to its 49th-percentile risk score.
Sound Beach's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Sound Beach: 40% of its 2,874 buildings, versus 26.7% Indirect and 33.3% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Sound Beach compares
Within New York, Sound Beach ranks higher (93rd percentile) than it does nationally (49th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sound Beach ranks 16,238 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,624 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 96 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sound Beach
At the 49th national percentile, Sound Beach rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 40% of Sound Beach 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.
Where Sound Beach's figures come from
Sound Beach's 49th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sound Beach's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.