Benton, KS
Benton wildfire risk explained
Benton sits at the 84th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 598 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 Benton at the 78th percentile, close to its 84th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Benton rates 90.3% Minimal exposure against just 9.7% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 598 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Where Benton ranks
Benton scores 84th nationally and 83rd within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Benton ranks 5,138 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,861 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 126 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Benton's very high rating (84th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 90.3% of Benton 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 Benton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 598 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Benton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Benton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.