Carter, MT
Carter, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Carter's 127 buildings earn a 55th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Carter at the 51st national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Carter's buildings actually sit
57.5% of Carter's 127 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 42.5% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Carter compares
Inside Montana, Carter sits at just the 18th percentile even though it scores 55th 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, Carter ranks 14,278 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,857 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 388 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Carter
Carter's elevated rating (55th 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 Carter
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Carter (57.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Carter's figures come from
Carter's 55th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Carter's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.