Groton, SD
Groton wildfire risk explained
Groton 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 903 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 Groton at the 70th percentile, close to its 72nd-percentile risk score.
Groton's building exposure, zone by zone
75.1% of Groton's 903 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 24.9% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Groton ranks
Groton's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (70th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (72nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Groton ranks 8,739 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,699 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 132 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Groton and the insurance market
Groton's 72nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 75.1% of Groton outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Groton's figures come from
Groton's 72nd-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 Groton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.