Edgemont, SD
Edgemont wildfire risk explained
Edgemont's 764 buildings earn a 88th-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.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Edgemont at the 88th percentile, close to its 88th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Edgemont's buildings (85.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Edgemont ranks
Edgemont's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (90th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (88th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Edgemont ranks 3,699 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,978 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 45 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Edgemont's very high rating (88th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Edgemont's 85.7% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 764 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Edgemont. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Edgemont, see the exposure-zones guide.