Horton Bay, MI
Horton Bay wildfire risk explained
Horton Bay's 590 buildings earn a 17th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Horton Bay at the 17th percentile, close to its 17th-percentile risk score.
Horton Bay's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 95.6% of Horton Bay's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0.7% Indirect share and far above its 3.7% Minimal share — a profile where 564 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Horton Bay compares
Compare Horton Bay's two percentiles: 58th within Michigan, only 17th nationally — a gap of 41 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Horton Bay ranks 26,162 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,962 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 313 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Horton Bay's low rating (17th 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
With 95.6% of Horton Bay in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Horton Bay's figures come from
Horton Bay's 17th-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 Horton Bay's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.