Hitchcock, SD
Hitchcock, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Hitchcock's 133 buildings earn a 53rd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hitchcock at the 52nd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Hitchcock's buildings actually sit
51.9% of Hitchcock's 133 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 48.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Hitchcock against the rest of the country
Hitchcock ranks lower within South Dakota (34th percentile statewide) than its 53rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hitchcock ranks 14,922 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,596 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 290 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Hitchcock and the insurance market
Hitchcock's elevated rating (53rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 51.9% of Hitchcock 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Hitchcock's 14,922-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Hitchcock, see the exposure-zones guide.