Fort Dodge, KS
Fort Dodge, KS's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Fort Dodge lands at the 52nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 101 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Fort Dodge's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 50th percentile nationally.
Where Fort Dodge's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 64.4% of Fort Dodge's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 35.6% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Fort Dodge compares
Fort Dodge ranks lower within Kansas (37th percentile statewide) than its 52nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fort Dodge ranks 15,028 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,993 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 457 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Fort Dodge's elevated wildfire rating (52nd 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
Fort Dodge's 64.4% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Fort Dodge's 52nd-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 Fort Dodge, see the exposure-zones guide.