Empire, MN
How exposed is Empire to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Empire at the 31st national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,681 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Empire at the 30th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Empire's 1,681 counted buildings, 49.7% carry Direct exposure and only 26.2% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Empire ranks
Empire's risk sits at a similar level relative to Minnesota (37th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (31st) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Empire ranks 21,869 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,490 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 574 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Empire's moderate rating (31st 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Empire (49.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Empire's figures come from
Empire's 31st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Empire's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.