South River, NJ
How exposed is South River to wildfire?
South River sits at the 63rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 5,650 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, South River's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 60th percentile nationally.
Where South River's buildings actually sit
Most of South River's buildings (94.8% of 5,650) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 5,650 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where South River ranks
There's little gap between South River's 63rd national percentile and its 72nd percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South River ranks 11,728 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,061 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 198 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
South River and the insurance market
At the 63rd percentile nationally, South River carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in South River
With 94.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, South River gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
South River's 63rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond South River, see the exposure-zones guide.