Union, NJ
Union wildfire risk explained
Union sits at the 24th 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 735 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Union at the 27th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Union's buildings actually sit
Most of Union's buildings (99.6% of 735) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
How Union compares
There's little gap between Union's 24th national percentile and its 14th percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Union ranks 23,866 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,277 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 603 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Union and the insurance market
Union's moderate wildfire rating (24th 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
With 99.6% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Union gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Union's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 735 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Union. The exposure-zones guide covers what Union's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.