Vanderbilt, PA
Vanderbilt wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Vanderbilt at the 39th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 273 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Vanderbilt's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 41st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
79.5% of Vanderbilt's 273 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 20.5% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Vanderbilt against the rest of the country
Within Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt ranks higher (59th percentile) than it does nationally (39th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Vanderbilt ranks 19,362 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,429 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 812 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt's moderate wildfire rating (39th 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.
Hardening a home in Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt's 79.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Vanderbilt's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Vanderbilt's 19,362-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Vanderbilt's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.