Clay Center, KS
Clay Center wildfire risk explained
Clay Center's 2,810 buildings earn a 52nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Clay Center at the 46th percentile, close to its 52nd-percentile risk score.
Where Clay Center's buildings actually sit
Most of Clay Center's buildings (95% of 2,810) 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.
Where Clay Center ranks
Clay Center's 52nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 36th ranking inside Kansas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 16 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clay Center ranks 15,123 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,743 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 463 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Clay Center
Clay Center's elevated rating (52nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 95% of Clay Center outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Clay Center's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,810 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Clay Center. The exposure-zones guide covers what Clay Center's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.