Gem Lake, MN
How exposed is Gem Lake to wildfire?
Gem Lake sits at the 41st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 381 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gem Lake at the 38th national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Gem Lake's buildings actually sit
54.3% of Gem Lake's 381 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 207 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 45.7% are Minimal.
How Gem Lake compares
Within Minnesota, Gem Lake ranks higher (57th percentile) than it does nationally (41st) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gem Lake ranks 18,524 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,620 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 395 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
Gem Lake's elevated rating (41st 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
With 54.3% of Gem Lake 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
Gem Lake's 41st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Gem Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.