Cozad, NE
How exposed is Cozad to wildfire?
USFS scores Cozad at the 45th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,416 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Cozad at the 39th percentile, close to its 45th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Cozad's buildings (98.6% of 2,416) 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.
How Cozad compares
Cozad ranks lower within Nebraska (30th percentile statewide) than its 45th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cozad ranks 17,333 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,472 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 409 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Cozad and the insurance market
Cozad's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 98.6% of Cozad 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,416 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cozad. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Cozad, see the exposure-zones guide.