Grayling, MI
Grayling wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Grayling at the 69th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,066 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Grayling at the 65th percentile, close to its 69th-percentile risk score.
Where Grayling's buildings actually sit
94.9% of Grayling's 1,066 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 5.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Grayling compares
Within Michigan, Grayling ranks higher (99th percentile) than it does nationally (69th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Grayling ranks 9,701 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,488 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 11 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Grayling and the insurance market
Grayling's high rating (69th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Grayling
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Grayling (94.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Grayling's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,066 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Grayling. The exposure-zones guide covers what Grayling's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.