Sunset Lake, NJ
Sunset Lake, NJ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Sunset Lake at the 54th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 250 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sunset Lake at the 54th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Sunset Lake's buildings actually sit
250 buildings are counted in Sunset Lake, and 90.8% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Sunset Lake ranks
Sunset Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (63rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (54th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sunset Lake ranks 14,568 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,150 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 262 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Sunset Lake's elevated wildfire rating (54th 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
Sunset Lake's 90.8% 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 Sunset Lake's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 250 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sunset Lake. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sunset Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.