Clinton, MT
Clinton wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Clinton at the 98th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 739 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Clinton at the 97th national percentile — 1 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
Direct exposure dominates in Clinton: 96.4% of its 739 buildings, versus 3.7% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Clinton compares
There's little gap between Clinton's 98th national percentile and its 98th percentile inside Montana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clinton ranks 571 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,230 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 9 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Clinton
At the 98th percentile nationally, Clinton carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 96.4% of Clinton in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Clinton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Clinton's 571-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Clinton's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.