South New Castle, PA
How exposed is South New Castle to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts South New Castle at the 27th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 407 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks South New Castle at the 27th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where South New Castle's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in South New Castle (89.4% of 407 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 10.6% sit in the Direct zone.
How South New Castle compares
South New Castle scores 27th nationally and 33rd within Pennsylvania — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South New Castle ranks 22,898 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,091 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,332 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
South New Castle's moderate wildfire rating (27th 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 South New Castle
South New Castle's 89.4% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where South New Castle's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind South New Castle's 22,898-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what South New Castle's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.