Berlin, IL
Berlin, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Berlin at the 3rd national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 161 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Berlin at the 3rd percentile, close to its 3rd-percentile risk score.
Where Berlin's buildings actually sit
93.2% of Berlin's 161 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 6.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Berlin against the rest of the country
Berlin's 22nd-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 3rd 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, Berlin ranks 30,466 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,375 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,130 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Berlin
Berlin's low wildfire rating (3rd 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 93.2% of Berlin 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 161 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Berlin. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Berlin, see the exposure-zones guide.