Waitsfield, VT
Waitsfield wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Waitsfield at the 15th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 220 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Waitsfield at the 15th percentile, close to its 15th-percentile risk score.
Where Waitsfield's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 62.3% of Waitsfield's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 37.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 137 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Waitsfield against the rest of the country
Waitsfield's 46th-percentile standing inside Vermont outpaces its 15th 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, Waitsfield ranks 26,712 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,142 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 98 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 15th national percentile, Waitsfield rates low 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 Waitsfield
Because Direct exposure dominates in Waitsfield (62.3%), 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Waitsfield's 26,712-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Waitsfield, see the exposure-zones guide.