Brown City, MI
Brown City wildfire risk explained
Brown City's 738 buildings earn a 2nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Brown City at the 2nd national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Brown City's buildings actually sit
Brown City rates 72.8% Minimal exposure against just 27.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 738 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Brown City against the rest of the country
Brown City scores 2nd nationally and 3rd within Michigan — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Brown City ranks 30,861 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,238 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 721 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Brown City's low wildfire rating (2nd 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 72.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Brown City gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Brown City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 738 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Brown City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Brown City's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.