York, PA
How exposed is York to wildfire?
York sits at the 5th 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 7,274 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks York at the 5th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 98% of York's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one. At 7,274 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
York against the rest of the country
York scores 5th nationally and 2nd within Pennsylvania — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, York ranks 30,022 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,354 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,949 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in York
At the 5th national percentile, York rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 98% of York 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.
Where York's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind York's 30,022-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what York's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.