Golden Valley, ND
Golden Valley wildfire risk explained
Golden Valley sits at the 72nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 232 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Golden Valley at the 71st national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Golden Valley's buildings (62.1%) 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.
Where Golden Valley ranks
Within North Dakota, Golden Valley ranks higher (89th percentile) than it does nationally (72nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Golden Valley ranks 8,831 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,746 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 46 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Golden Valley
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Golden Valley carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Golden Valley
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Golden Valley (62.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Golden Valley's 8,831-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Golden Valley, see the exposure-zones guide.