Belt, MT
Belt wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Belt lands at the 54th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 398 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Belt at the 54th national percentile — 0 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
81.9% of Belt's 398 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 18.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Belt compares
Belt ranks lower within Montana (18th percentile statewide) than its 54th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Belt ranks 14,376 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,251 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 390 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Belt's elevated wildfire rating (54th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 81.9% of Belt's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 398 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Belt. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Belt, see the exposure-zones guide.