St. Mary's, AK
How exposed is St. Mary's to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, St. Mary's lands at the 43rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 252 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Mary's's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 46th percentile nationally.
Where St. Mary's's buildings actually sit
52.4% of St. Mary's's 252 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 132 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 46% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 1.6% are Minimal.
St. Mary's against the rest of the country
St. Mary's scores 43rd nationally and 33rd within Alaska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Mary's ranks 17,921 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,067 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 217 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 43rd national percentile, St. Mary's rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in St. Mary's
St. Mary's's 52.4% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where St. Mary's's figures come from
St. Mary's's 43rd-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. Mary's's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.