Hillsdale, MI
Hillsdale wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Hillsdale at the 14th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 3,221 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hillsdale's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 15th percentile nationally.
Hillsdale's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Hillsdale (72.9% of 3,221 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 20.3% sit in the Direct zone.
How Hillsdale compares
Hillsdale's 50th-percentile standing inside Michigan outpaces its 14th 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, Hillsdale ranks 26,980 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,144 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 372 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hillsdale
At the 14th national percentile, Hillsdale rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 72.9% of Hillsdale'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 Hillsdale's figures come from
Hillsdale's 14th-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 Hillsdale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.