Chokio, MN
Chokio wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Chokio at the 41st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 382 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 Chokio at the 29th percentile, lower than its 41st-percentile risk score, because so much is actually built here.
Chokio's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 69.6% of Chokio's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 30.4% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Chokio ranks
Compare Chokio's two percentiles: 56th within Minnesota, only 41st nationally — a gap of 15 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chokio ranks 18,562 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,591 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 397 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
Chokio's elevated rating (41st 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 69.6% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Chokio gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Chokio's figures come from
Chokio's 41st-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 Chokio's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.