Hanston, KS
How exposed is Hanston to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Hanston lands at the 54th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 220 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Hanston at the 51st percentile, close to its 54th-percentile risk score.
Where Hanston's buildings actually sit
Most of Hanston's buildings (75%) 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.
Hanston against the rest of the country
Hanston's risk sits at a similar level relative to Kansas (39th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (54th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hanston ranks 14,650 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,122 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 441 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Hanston's elevated wildfire rating (54th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Hanston (75% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Hanston's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 220 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Hanston. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hanston's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.