Chisholm, MN
Chisholm wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Chisholm lands at the 38th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 3,175 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Chisholm at the 36th national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Chisholm (93.7% of 3,175 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 6.3% sit in the Direct zone.
How Chisholm compares
Chisholm scores 38th nationally and 51st within Minnesota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chisholm ranks 19,443 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,197 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 450 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
At the 38th national percentile, Chisholm rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Chisholm's 93.7% 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
Chisholm's 38th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Chisholm, see the exposure-zones guide.