Hardin, MT
Hardin wildfire risk explained
Hardin's 1,970 buildings earn a 79th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hardin at the 79th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Hardin (65% of 1,970 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 4% sit in the Direct zone.
Hardin against the rest of the country
Inside Montana, Hardin sits at just the 50th percentile even though it scores 79th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hardin ranks 6,688 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,562 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 235 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Hardin's high rating (79th 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 Hardin
Because 65% of Hardin'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 Hardin's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Hardin's 6,688-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hardin's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.