Browns Valley, MN
How exposed is Browns Valley to wildfire?
Browns Valley's 511 buildings earn a 69th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Browns Valley at the 65th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Browns Valley (74% of 511 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 26% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Browns Valley ranks
Compare Browns Valley's two percentiles: 93rd within Minnesota, only 69th nationally — a gap of 24 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Browns Valley ranks 9,642 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,159 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 63 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Browns Valley
Browns Valley's 69th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Browns Valley (74% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Browns Valley's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Browns Valley's 9,642-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Browns Valley's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.