St. Leonard, MD
St. Leonard wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, St. Leonard lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 379 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks St. Leonard at the 72nd national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
St. Leonard's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 81.8% of St. Leonard's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 18.2% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 310 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How St. Leonard compares
Within Maryland, St. Leonard ranks higher (94th percentile) than it does nationally (72nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Leonard ranks 8,766 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,670 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 35 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
St. Leonard and the insurance market
St. Leonard's 72nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in St. Leonard (81.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where St. Leonard's figures come from
St. Leonard's 72nd-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 St. Leonard's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.