Independence, KS
How exposed is Independence to wildfire?
Independence's 4,983 buildings earn a 55th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Independence's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 56th percentile nationally.
Independence's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 60.5% of Independence's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 13% Direct and 26.5% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Independence against the rest of the country
Independence scores 55th nationally and 43rd within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Independence ranks 14,054 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,437 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 411 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Independence
Independence's elevated wildfire rating (55th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 60.5% of Independence outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Independence's 14,054-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Independence, see the exposure-zones guide.