Bonesteel, SD
Bonesteel, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bonesteel lands at the 64th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 274 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bonesteel's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 61st percentile nationally.
Where Bonesteel's buildings actually sit
80.3% of Bonesteel's 274 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 19.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Bonesteel compares
Bonesteel's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (55th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (64th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bonesteel ranks 11,289 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,410 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 197 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bonesteel
Bonesteel's 64th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bonesteel (80.3% 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
Bonesteel's 64th-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 Bonesteel, see the exposure-zones guide.