Brandon, SD
How exposed is Brandon to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Brandon lands at the 61st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 3,380 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Brandon's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 58th percentile nationally.
Where Brandon's buildings actually sit
Brandon rates 86% Minimal exposure against just 14% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 3,380 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Brandon against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Brandon's 61st national percentile and its 49th percentile inside South Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Brandon ranks 12,461 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,944 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 225 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Brandon
At the 61st percentile nationally, Brandon carries the 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
With 86% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Brandon gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
Brandon's 61st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Brandon, see the exposure-zones guide.