Southwest Harbor, ME
Southwest Harbor, ME's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Southwest Harbor at the 16th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 729 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Southwest Harbor's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
Where Southwest Harbor's buildings actually sit
729 buildings are counted in Southwest Harbor, and 56.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 40.9% in Direct exposure or the 2.3% rated Minimal.
Southwest Harbor against the rest of the country
Within Maine, Southwest Harbor ranks higher (75th percentile) than it does nationally (16th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Southwest Harbor ranks 26,597 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,349 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 40 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
Southwest Harbor and the insurance market
Southwest Harbor's low wildfire rating (16th 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 Southwest Harbor
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Southwest Harbor (56.8% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Southwest Harbor's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 729 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Southwest Harbor. The exposure-zones guide covers what Southwest Harbor's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.