West Cape May, NJ
West Cape May wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, West Cape May lands at the 66th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,241 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks West Cape May at the 59th national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
1,241 buildings are counted in West Cape May, and 73.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 23.9% in Direct exposure or the 2.3% rated Minimal.
West Cape May against the rest of the country
There's little gap between West Cape May's 66th national percentile and its 75th percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Cape May ranks 10,847 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,400 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 177 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
West Cape May and the insurance market
At the 66th percentile nationally, West Cape May carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
West Cape May's 73.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind West Cape May's 10,847-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond West Cape May, see the exposure-zones guide.