Barnes Lake, MI
Barnes Lake, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Barnes Lake lands at the 17th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 582 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Barnes Lake's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 18th percentile nationally.
Where Barnes Lake's buildings actually sit
Of Barnes Lake's 582 counted buildings, 86.8% carry Direct exposure and only 5.7% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Barnes Lake ranks
Within Michigan, Barnes Lake ranks higher (58th percentile) than it does nationally (17th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Barnes Lake ranks 26,189 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,080 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 314 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Barnes Lake's low rating (17th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Barnes Lake (86.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Barnes Lake's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Barnes Lake's 26,189-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Barnes Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.