Houston, MN
Houston, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Houston at the 27th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 680 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Houston at the 28th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Houston's buildings actually sit
Most of Houston's buildings (89%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Houston against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Houston's 27th national percentile and its 32nd percentile inside Minnesota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Houston ranks 23,134 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,860 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 626 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Houston and the insurance market
Houston's moderate rating (27th 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in Houston (89% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Houston's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 680 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Houston. The exposure-zones guide covers what Houston's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.