Geraldine, MT
How exposed is Geraldine to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Geraldine lands at the 53rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 268 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Geraldine's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Geraldine's buildings (86.2%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Geraldine compares
Geraldine ranks lower within Montana (15th percentile statewide) than its 53rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Geraldine ranks 14,976 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,570 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 404 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Geraldine's elevated rating (53rd 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 Geraldine
Geraldine's 86.2% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Geraldine's 14,976-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Geraldine, see the exposure-zones guide.