St. Mary, KY
How exposed is St. Mary to wildfire?
St. Mary sits at the 27th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 139 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks St. Mary at the 29th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
85.6% of St. Mary's 139 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 119 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 14.4% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How St. Mary compares
St. Mary's 51st-percentile standing inside Kentucky outpaces its 27th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Mary ranks 23,066 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,327 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 273 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
St. Mary's moderate rating (27th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 85.6% of St. Mary in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where St. Mary's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind St. Mary's 23,066-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what St. Mary's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.