Cross Plains, WI
How exposed is Cross Plains to wildfire?
USFS scores Cross Plains at the 38th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 1,377 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 Cross Plains at the 40th percentile, close to its 38th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Cross Plains (74.5% of 1,377 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 25.5% sit in the Direct zone.
Cross Plains against the rest of the country
Compare Cross Plains's two percentiles: 89th within Wisconsin, only 38th nationally — a gap of 51 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cross Plains ranks 19,433 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,726 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 87 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Cross Plains's moderate wildfire rating (38th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Cross Plains (74.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Cross Plains's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Cross Plains's 19,433-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Cross Plains's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.