Westminster, MD
Westminster wildfire risk explained
Westminster sits at the 9th 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 4,425 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Westminster at the 8th percentile, close to its 9th-percentile risk score.
Where Westminster's buildings actually sit
4,425 buildings are counted in Westminster, and 54.6% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 29.3% in Direct exposure or the 16.1% rated Minimal.
Westminster against the rest of the country
Westminster scores 9th nationally and 3rd within Maryland — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Westminster ranks 28,713 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,857 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 511 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Westminster's low rating (9th 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 Westminster
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Westminster (54.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,425 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Westminster. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Westminster, see the exposure-zones guide.