Billings, MT
How exposed is Billings to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Billings at the 88th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 49,645 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Billings's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 88th percentile nationally.
Where Billings's buildings actually sit
54.6% of Billings's 49,645 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 6.3% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 49,645 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Billings compares
Billings ranks lower within Montana (71st percentile statewide) than its 88th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Billings ranks 3,785 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 178 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 137 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Billings
At the 88th percentile nationally, Billings carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Billings's 54.6% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Billings's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 49,645 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Billings. The exposure-zones guide covers what Billings's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.