Alton, MO
Alton, MO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Alton sits at the 79th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 552 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Alton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 83rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
552 buildings are counted in Alton, and 57.4% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 42.6% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Alton ranks
Within Missouri, Alton ranks higher (96th percentile) than it does nationally (79th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alton ranks 6,492 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,539 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 42 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Alton
Alton's high rating (79th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Alton
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Alton (57.4% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Alton's 6,492-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Alton, see the exposure-zones guide.