Braidwood, IL
Braidwood, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Braidwood at the 37th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 3,747 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Braidwood's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 37th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Braidwood (51.5% of 3,747 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 19.7% sit in the Direct zone.
How Braidwood compares
Compare Braidwood's two percentiles: 89th within Illinois, only 37th nationally — a gap of 52 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Braidwood ranks 19,877 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,477 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 158 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Braidwood and the insurance market
Braidwood's moderate wildfire rating (37th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Braidwood
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Braidwood (51.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Braidwood's figures come from
Braidwood's 37th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Braidwood's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.