Columbia, IL
How exposed is Columbia to wildfire?
Columbia's 4,697 buildings earn a 18th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Columbia's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 18th percentile nationally.
Where Columbia's buildings actually sit
Most of Columbia's buildings (93.8% of 4,697) 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.
Columbia against the rest of the country
Columbia's 57th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 18th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Columbia ranks 25,992 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,624 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 616 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Columbia
Columbia's low wildfire rating (18th 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.
Hardening a home in Columbia
Columbia's 93.8% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,697 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Columbia. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Columbia, see the exposure-zones guide.