West Islip, NY
How exposed is West Islip to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, West Islip lands at the 42nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 9,940 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, West Islip's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 38th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
95% of West Islip's 9,940 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 5% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 9,940 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How West Islip compares
Within New York, West Islip ranks higher (87th percentile) than it does nationally (42nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Islip ranks 18,439 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,628 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 174 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
West Islip's elevated rating (42nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 95% of West Islip outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 9,940 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for West Islip. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond West Islip, see the exposure-zones guide.