Washington, WV
Washington wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Washington lands at the 35th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 696 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Washington at the 37th percentile, close to its 35th-percentile risk score.
Washington's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Washington: 75.1% of its 696 buildings, versus 24.3% Indirect and 0.6% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Washington compares
Washington ranks lower within West Virginia (5th percentile statewide) than its 35th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Washington ranks 20,404 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,713 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 408 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 35th national percentile, Washington rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Washington's 75.1% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Washington's 20,404-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Washington, see the exposure-zones guide.