Ford Heights, IL
Ford Heights, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ford Heights lands at the 46th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 919 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 Ford Heights at the 48th percentile, close to its 46th-percentile risk score.
Where Ford Heights's buildings actually sit
Most of Ford Heights's buildings (98.8% of 919) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Where Ford Heights ranks
Ford Heights's 96th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 46th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ford Heights ranks 17,109 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,560 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 53 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Ford Heights
Ford Heights's elevated rating (46th 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 Ford Heights
Even with 98.8% of Ford Heights 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.
More on how this number was built
Ford Heights's 46th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Ford Heights, see the exposure-zones guide.