Waterloo, NY
How exposed is Waterloo to wildfire?
Waterloo sits at the 5th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,261 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Waterloo at the 6th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Waterloo's buildings actually sit
Of Waterloo's 2,261 counted buildings, 39% carry Direct exposure and only 23.7% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Waterloo ranks
Waterloo scores 5th nationally and 7th within New York — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waterloo ranks 29,828 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,790 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,213 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Waterloo's low wildfire rating (5th 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
Waterloo's 39% 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.
Where Waterloo's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,261 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Waterloo. The exposure-zones guide covers what Waterloo's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.