Frederick, SD
How exposed is Frederick to wildfire?
Frederick's 208 buildings earn a 57th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Frederick at the 57th percentile, close to its 57th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
50.5% of Frederick's 208 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 105 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 49.5% are Minimal.
Frederick against the rest of the country
Frederick ranks lower within South Dakota (42nd percentile statewide) than its 57th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Frederick ranks 13,562 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,575 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 256 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Frederick and the insurance market
Frederick's elevated wildfire rating (57th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 50.5% of Frederick in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Frederick's 13,562-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Frederick, see the exposure-zones guide.