Cowden, IL
Cowden, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Cowden at the 23rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 413 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cowden's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 23rd percentile nationally.
Cowden's building exposure, zone by zone
78.9% of Cowden's 413 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 21.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Cowden ranks
Compare Cowden's two percentiles: 66th within Illinois, only 23rd nationally — a gap of 44 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cowden ranks 24,415 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,966 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 486 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 23rd national percentile, Cowden rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 78.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Cowden gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 413 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cowden. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Cowden, see the exposure-zones guide.