Wardsboro, VT
How exposed is Wardsboro to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Wardsboro at the 17th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 63 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Wardsboro's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 17th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Wardsboro: 55.6% of its 63 buildings, versus 44.4% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Wardsboro compares
Wardsboro's 67th-percentile standing inside Vermont outpaces its 17th 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, Wardsboro ranks 26,302 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,562 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 61 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Wardsboro and the insurance market
Wardsboro's low rating (17th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 55.6% of Wardsboro in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 63 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wardsboro. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Wardsboro, see the exposure-zones guide.