Alden, MI
How exposed is Alden to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Alden lands at the 35th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 223 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Alden at the 35th percentile, close to its 35th-percentile risk score.
Where Alden's buildings actually sit
53.4% of Alden's 223 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 119 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 35.4% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 11.2% are Minimal.
Where Alden ranks
Alden's 87th-percentile standing inside Michigan outpaces its 35th 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, Alden ranks 20,417 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,015 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 99 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Alden
Alden's moderate wildfire rating (35th 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.
Hardening a home in Alden
Because Direct exposure dominates in Alden (53.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Alden's figures come from
Alden's 35th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Alden's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.