Tolchester, MD
Tolchester, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Tolchester sits at the 35th 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 215 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Tolchester at the 33rd national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Tolchester's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Tolchester: 84.7% of its 215 buildings, versus 5.6% Indirect and 9.8% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Tolchester compares
Compare Tolchester's two percentiles: 53rd within Maryland, only 35th nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tolchester ranks 20,486 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,306 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 247 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 35th national percentile, Tolchester rates moderate 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 Tolchester
Because Direct exposure dominates in Tolchester (84.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Tolchester's 35th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Tolchester, see the exposure-zones guide.