Houston, MO
How exposed is Houston to wildfire?
Houston's 1,472 buildings earn a 72nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Houston's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 75th percentile nationally.
Houston's building exposure, zone by zone
1,472 buildings are counted in Houston, and 64.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 35.2% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Houston compares
There's little gap between Houston's 72nd national percentile and its 86th percentile inside Missouri, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Houston ranks 8,729 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,300 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 148 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Houston carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Houston's 64.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,472 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Houston. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Houston, see the exposure-zones guide.