Benld, IL
Benld wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Benld at the 21st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 1,085 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Benld's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 22nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Benld (92.4% of 1,085 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 7.7% sit in the Direct zone.
Benld against the rest of the country
Benld's 64th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 21st national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Benld ranks 24,825 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,372 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 518 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Benld and the insurance market
At the 21st national percentile, Benld rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 92.4% of Benld'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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Benld's 24,825-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Benld, see the exposure-zones guide.