Buffalo Lake, MN
Buffalo Lake, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Buffalo Lake's 485 buildings earn a 5th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places 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 Buffalo Lake at the 3rd percentile, close to its 5th-percentile risk score.
Buffalo Lake's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 93.2% of Buffalo Lake's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 6.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Buffalo Lake against the rest of the country
Buffalo Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to Minnesota (7th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (5th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buffalo Lake ranks 30,078 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,612 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 847 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Buffalo Lake and the insurance market
At the 5th national percentile, Buffalo Lake rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 93.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Buffalo Lake gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Buffalo Lake's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 485 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Buffalo Lake. The exposure-zones guide covers what Buffalo Lake's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.