Williston, MD
Williston wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Williston at the 58th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 98 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Williston at the 58th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
Where Williston's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 91.8% of Williston's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 6.1% Indirect share and far above its 2% Minimal share — a profile where 90 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Williston ranks
Within Maryland, Williston ranks higher (82nd percentile) than it does nationally (58th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Williston ranks 13,306 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,125 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 97 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Williston
Williston's elevated wildfire rating (58th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Williston's 91.8% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 98 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Williston. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Williston, see the exposure-zones guide.