Grafton, IL
Grafton wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Grafton at the 24th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 514 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Grafton at the 25th percentile, close to its 24th-percentile risk score.
Grafton's building exposure, zone by zone
514 buildings are counted in Grafton, and 51.6% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0.2% rated Minimal.
Where Grafton ranks
Grafton's 68th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 24th 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, Grafton ranks 24,100 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,116 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 463 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Grafton and the insurance market
Grafton's moderate rating (24th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 51.6% of Grafton 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.
Where Grafton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Grafton's 24,100-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Grafton's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.