Dryden, MI
Dryden wildfire risk explained
Dryden's 543 buildings earn a 12th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Dryden at the 13th percentile, close to its 12th-percentile risk score.
Where Dryden's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Dryden (78.1% of 543 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 21.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Dryden against the rest of the country
Compare Dryden's two percentiles: 42nd within Michigan, only 12th nationally — a gap of 30 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dryden ranks 27,674 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,670 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 433 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 12th national percentile, Dryden rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Dryden (78.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Dryden's 27,674-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Dryden, see the exposure-zones guide.