Columbia, MO
How exposed is Columbia to wildfire?
Columbia's 38,447 buildings earn a 59th-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.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Columbia at the 61st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Columbia's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Columbia's buildings (48.6% of 38,447) 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. At 38,447 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Columbia against the rest of the country
Columbia scores 59th nationally and 54th within Missouri — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Columbia ranks 12,801 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 262 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 492 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Columbia and the insurance market
At the 59th national percentile, Columbia rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 48.6% of Columbia 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.
More on how this number was built
Columbia's 59th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Columbia, see the exposure-zones guide.