Balta, ND
How exposed is Balta to wildfire?
Balta's 77 buildings earn a 47th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Balta at the 46th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
58.4% of Balta's 77 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 41.6% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Balta ranks
Balta's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Dakota (44th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (47th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Balta ranks 16,770 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,024 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 226 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Balta
Balta's elevated wildfire rating (47th 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 Balta
With 58.4% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Balta gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
Balta's 47th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Balta, see the exposure-zones guide.