Union Dale, PA
Union Dale wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Union Dale lands at the 46th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 237 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Union Dale at the 46th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Union Dale's buildings actually sit
Of Union Dale's 237 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Union Dale against the rest of the country
Union Dale's 74th-percentile standing inside Pennsylvania outpaces its 46th 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, Union Dale ranks 16,999 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,572 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 516 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Union Dale's elevated wildfire rating (46th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Union Dale (100%), 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
Union Dale's 46th-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 Union Dale, see the exposure-zones guide.