Elsie, NE
Elsie wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Elsie lands at the 58th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 132 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Elsie at the 56th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Elsie's buildings (80.3%) 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.
Elsie against the rest of the country
Elsie scores 58th nationally and 47th 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, Elsie ranks 13,181 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,631 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 312 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Elsie and the insurance market
At the 58th national percentile, Elsie rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Elsie's 80.3% 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.
Where Elsie's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elsie's 13,181-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Elsie's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.