Custer, SD
How exposed is Custer to wildfire?
Custer sits at the 87th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,435 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (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 88th percentile nationally.
Where Custer's buildings actually sit
1,435 buildings are counted in Custer, and 66.3% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 33.7% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Custer compares
There's little gap between Custer's 87th national percentile and its 88th percentile inside South Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Custer ranks 4,101 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,458 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 54 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Custer
Custer's very high rating (87th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Custer
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Custer (66.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
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.