Elizabeth, IL
How exposed is Elizabeth to wildfire?
Elizabeth's 525 buildings earn a 30th-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.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Elizabeth at the 31st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Elizabeth's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 80% of Elizabeth's 525 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 20% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Elizabeth against the rest of the country
Within Illinois, Elizabeth ranks higher (79th percentile) than it does nationally (30th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elizabeth ranks 22,209 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,934 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 305 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Elizabeth and the insurance market
At the 30th national percentile, Elizabeth rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Elizabeth
Because 80% of Elizabeth's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Elizabeth's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elizabeth's 22,209-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Elizabeth's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.