Cass Lake, MN
Cass Lake, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Cass Lake sits at the 35th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 644 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cass Lake at the 32nd national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Cass Lake's buildings actually sit
644 buildings are counted in Cass Lake, and 71% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 28.3% in Direct exposure or the 0.8% rated Minimal.
How Cass Lake compares
Cass Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to Minnesota (45th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (35th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cass Lake ranks 20,515 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,275 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 505 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Cass Lake's moderate wildfire rating (35th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Cass Lake's 71% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Cass Lake's figures come from
Cass Lake's 35th-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 Cass Lake's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.