Bethany, IL
Bethany wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bethany lands at the 12th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 849 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bethany at the 12th 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
USFS puts 92.3% of Bethany's 849 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 7.5% Direct and 0.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Bethany ranks
Bethany's 47th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 12th 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, Bethany ranks 27,661 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,166 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 762 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 12th national percentile, Bethany rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bethany (92.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Bethany's 12th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Bethany, see the exposure-zones guide.