Essex, MO
How exposed is Essex to wildfire?
USFS scores Essex at the 1st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 304 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Essex's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 1st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 85.5% of Essex's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 14.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Essex against the rest of the country
Essex's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (1st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (1st) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Essex ranks 31,311 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,524 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 1,054 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Essex
Essex's low rating (1st percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Essex
With 85.5% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Essex gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Essex's figures come from
Essex's 1st-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 Essex's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.