Appleton, WI
Appleton, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Appleton at the 23rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 33,199 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Appleton at the 24th national percentile — 1 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
96.8% of Appleton's 33,199 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 2.9% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 33,199 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Appleton against the rest of the country
Within Wisconsin, Appleton ranks higher (42nd percentile) than it does nationally (23rd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Appleton ranks 24,251 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 329 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 466 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 23rd national percentile, Appleton rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Appleton
Even with 96.8% of Appleton 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 Appleton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 33,199 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Appleton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Appleton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.