Waterville, NY
Waterville wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Waterville at the 6th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 725 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Waterville at the 6th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Waterville's 725 counted buildings, 54.9% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Waterville compares
Waterville scores 6th nationally and 8th 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, Waterville ranks 29,734 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,395 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,186 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
Waterville's low wildfire rating (6th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 54.9% of Waterville 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.
Where Waterville's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 725 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Waterville. The exposure-zones guide covers what Waterville's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.