Box Elder, SD
Box Elder wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Box Elder at the 89th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 3,522 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Box Elder's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
Where Box Elder's buildings actually sit
64.3% of Box Elder's 3,522 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 35.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Box Elder compares
Box Elder's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (93rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (89th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Box Elder ranks 3,348 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,746 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 33 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Box Elder's very high rating (89th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Box Elder's 64.3% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,522 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Box Elder. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Box Elder, see the exposure-zones guide.