Hugo, MN
How exposed is Hugo to wildfire?
USFS scores Hugo at the 54th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 6,049 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Hugo at the 52nd percentile, close to its 54th-percentile risk score.
Where Hugo's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 57.4% of Hugo's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 20.5% Indirect share and far above its 22.2% Minimal share — a profile where 3,470 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 6,049 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Hugo against the rest of the country
Within Minnesota, Hugo ranks higher (80th percentile) than it does nationally (54th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hugo ranks 14,372 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,858 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 186 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 54th national percentile, Hugo rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Hugo
Because Direct exposure dominates in Hugo (57.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 6,049 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Hugo. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Hugo, see the exposure-zones guide.