Grand Marais, MN
Grand Marais, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Grand Marais at the 81st national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 1,056 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Grand Marais's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 83rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Grand Marais's buildings (79%) 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.
Grand Marais against the rest of the country
Grand Marais's 98th-percentile standing inside Minnesota outpaces its 81st 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, Grand Marais ranks 5,926 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,557 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 16 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
At the 81st percentile nationally, Grand Marais carries the very 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 79% of Grand Marais's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Grand Marais's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Grand Marais's 5,926-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Grand Marais's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.