Center, ND
How exposed is Center to wildfire?
USFS scores Center at the 58th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 468 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Center at the 56th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
Where Center's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Center (80.1% of 468 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 19.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Center ranks
Center's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Dakota (68th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (58th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Center ranks 13,341 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,924 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 129 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Center's elevated rating (58th 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
Center's 80.1% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 468 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Center. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Center, see the exposure-zones guide.