Canton, SD
Canton, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Canton sits at the 53rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,672 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Canton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
Where Canton's buildings actually sit
Canton rates 85.3% Minimal exposure against just 14.7% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 1,672 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
How Canton compares
Canton ranks lower within South Dakota (35th percentile statewide) than its 53rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Canton ranks 14,889 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,515 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 288 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Canton's elevated rating (53rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Canton
Even with 85.3% of Canton outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Canton's 14,889-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Canton, see the exposure-zones guide.