Elberta, MI
How exposed is Elberta to wildfire?
Elberta's 278 buildings earn a 21st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Elberta at the 21st percentile, close to its 21st-percentile risk score.
Where Elberta's buildings actually sit
Most of Elberta's buildings (77.7%) 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.
How Elberta compares
Within Michigan, Elberta ranks higher (69th percentile) than it does nationally (21st) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elberta ranks 24,834 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,262 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 231 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
Elberta's moderate wildfire rating (21st 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Elberta (77.7% 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
Elberta's 21st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Elberta, see the exposure-zones guide.