Houghton, MI
How exposed is Houghton to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Houghton at the 37th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,862 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Houghton at the 37th percentile, close to its 37th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
76.6% of Houghton's 1,862 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 22.9% Direct and 0.4% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Houghton compares
Within Michigan, Houghton ranks higher (88th percentile) than it does nationally (37th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Houghton ranks 19,946 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,877 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 89 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
At the 37th national percentile, Houghton rates moderate 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Houghton (76.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Houghton's figures come from
Houghton's 37th-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 Houghton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.