Browning, MT
Browning wildfire risk explained
Browning's 526 buildings earn a 83rd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Browning at the 84th percentile, close to its 83rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 97.9% of Browning's 526 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 2.1% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Browning against the rest of the country
Inside Montana, Browning sits at just the 57th percentile even though it scores 83rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Browning ranks 5,390 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,925 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 205 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 83rd percentile nationally, Browning carries the very 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 97.9% of Browning's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Browning's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Browning's 5,390-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Browning's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.