Big Lake (Carlton), MN
How exposed is Big Lake (Carlton) to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Big Lake (Carlton) at the 35th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 311 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Big Lake (Carlton) at the 35th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Big Lake (Carlton)'s buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Big Lake (Carlton): 95.5% of its 311 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 4.5% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Big Lake (Carlton) ranks
There's little gap between Big Lake (Carlton)'s 35th national percentile and its 44th percentile inside Minnesota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Lake (Carlton) ranks 20,573 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,342 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 510 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Big Lake (Carlton)
At the 35th national percentile, Big Lake (Carlton) rates moderate 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
Big Lake (Carlton)'s 95.5% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Big Lake (Carlton)'s figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Big Lake (Carlton)'s 20,573-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Big Lake (Carlton)'s dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.