Claire City, SD
Claire City wildfire risk explained
Claire City sits at the 45th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 99 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Claire City at the 42nd national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Claire City's buildings actually sit
Most of Claire City's buildings (50.5% of 99) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
How Claire City compares
Inside South Dakota, Claire City sits at just the 21st percentile even though it scores 45th 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, Claire City ranks 17,380 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,105 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 347 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Claire City's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Claire City's 50.5% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Claire City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 99 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Claire City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Claire City's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.