Ashton, NE
Ashton wildfire risk explained
Ashton sits at the 59th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 220 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Ashton at the 50th percentile, close to its 59th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 80% of Ashton's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 20% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Ashton ranks
There's little gap between Ashton's 59th national percentile and its 48th percentile inside Nebraska, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ashton ranks 12,958 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,131 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 301 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Ashton's elevated wildfire rating (59th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 80% of Ashton 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 Ashton's figures come from
Ashton's 59th-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 Ashton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.