Elm Creek, NE
How exposed is Elm Creek to wildfire?
Elm Creek's 605 buildings earn a 50th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Elm Creek at the 42nd national percentile — 8 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Elm Creek's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 4.6% of Elm Creek's 605 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 95.4% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Elm Creek compares
Elm Creek scores 50th nationally and 37th within Nebraska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elm Creek ranks 15,789 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,766 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 367 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Elm Creek's elevated wildfire rating (50th 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
Even with 95.4% of Elm Creek outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Elm Creek's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 605 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Elm Creek. The exposure-zones guide covers what Elm Creek's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.