West Brattleboro, VT
West Brattleboro wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, West Brattleboro lands at the 16th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 1,064 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks West Brattleboro at the 16th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where West Brattleboro's buildings actually sit
Most of West Brattleboro's buildings (61.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
West Brattleboro against the rest of the country
West Brattleboro's 52nd-percentile standing inside Vermont outpaces its 16th 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, West Brattleboro ranks 26,551 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,497 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 86 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
West Brattleboro and the insurance market
West Brattleboro's low rating (16th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in West Brattleboro
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in West Brattleboro (61.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where West Brattleboro's figures come from
West Brattleboro's 16th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what West Brattleboro's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.