Butler, IL
Butler, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Butler at the 20th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 173 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Butler at the 21st national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Butler's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Butler's buildings (63%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Butler against the rest of the country
Compare Butler's two percentiles: 62nd within Illinois, only 20th nationally — a gap of 42 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Butler ranks 25,108 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,888 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 545 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Butler's moderate rating (20th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Butler (63% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Butler's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 173 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Butler. The exposure-zones guide covers what Butler's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.