Gladstone, IL
Gladstone, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Gladstone sits at the 43rd 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 204 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Gladstone at the 44th percentile, close to its 43rd-percentile risk score.
Where Gladstone's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 91.2% of Gladstone's 204 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 8.8% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Gladstone compares
Gladstone's 95th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 43rd 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, Gladstone ranks 17,862 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,691 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 71 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Gladstone and the insurance market
Gladstone's elevated rating (43rd 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 Gladstone
Gladstone's 91.2% 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.
Where Gladstone's figures come from
Gladstone's 43rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Gladstone's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.