Southmont, PA
How exposed is Southmont to wildfire?
Southmont's 990 buildings earn a 31st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Southmont at the 30th national percentile — 1 points below 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 Southmont (61.2% of 990 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 28.1% sit in the Direct zone.
Southmont against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Southmont's 31st national percentile and its 41st percentile inside Pennsylvania, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Southmont ranks 21,698 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,009 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,175 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Southmont and the insurance market
Southmont's moderate wildfire rating (31st 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Southmont (61.2% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 990 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Southmont. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Southmont, see the exposure-zones guide.