Elgin, ND
Elgin wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Elgin lands at the 43rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 609 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Elgin at the 41st national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Elgin's building exposure, zone by zone
72.6% of Elgin's 609 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 20.2% Direct and 7.2% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Elgin ranks
Elgin scores 43rd nationally and 33rd within North Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elgin ranks 17,999 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,705 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 270 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Elgin's elevated rating (43rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Elgin's 72.6% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elgin's 17,999-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Elgin, see the exposure-zones guide.