Island Lake, IL
Island Lake, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Island Lake at the 34th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 3,301 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Island Lake at the 35th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Island Lake's buildings actually sit
Most of Island Lake's buildings (75.5% of 3,301) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Island Lake against the rest of the country
Island Lake's 86th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 34th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Island Lake ranks 20,694 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,044 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 206 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Island Lake and the insurance market
At the 34th national percentile, Island Lake rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 75.5% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Island Lake gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Island Lake's figures come from
Island Lake's 34th-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 Island Lake's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.