Central City, NE
Central City wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Central City lands at the 33rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 1,865 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Central City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 28th percentile nationally.
Central City's building exposure, zone by zone
93.2% of Central City's 1,865 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 6.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Central City compares
Inside Nebraska, Central City sits at just the 17th percentile even though it scores 33rd 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, Central City ranks 21,274 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,864 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 482 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Central City and the insurance market
Central City's moderate rating (33rd 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 93.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Central City gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Central City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,865 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Central City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Central City's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.