Custer, MT
How exposed is Custer to wildfire?
Custer's 153 buildings earn a 87th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Custer's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 87th percentile nationally.
Custer's building exposure, zone by zone
84.3% of Custer's 153 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 15.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Custer ranks
Inside Montana, Custer sits at just the 67th percentile even though it scores 87th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Custer ranks 4,194 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,760 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 158 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Custer and the insurance market
At the 87th percentile nationally, Custer carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Custer
Custer's 84.3% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Custer's figures come from
Custer's 87th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Custer's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.