Albany, IL
Albany, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Albany at the 43rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 566 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Albany's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 44th percentile nationally.
Where Albany's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Albany (85.5% of 566 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 12.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Albany against the rest of the country
Albany's 95th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 43rd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Albany ranks 18,019 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,305 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 76 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 43rd national percentile, Albany rates elevated 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
Because 85.5% of Albany's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Albany's 18,019-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Albany, see the exposure-zones guide.