Joplin, MO
Joplin wildfire risk explained
Joplin's 25,251 buildings earn a 67th-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, Joplin's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 68th percentile nationally.
Where Joplin's buildings actually sit
Most of Joplin's buildings (75.9% of 25,251) 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. At 25,251 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Joplin against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Joplin's 67th national percentile and its 74th percentile inside Missouri, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Joplin ranks 10,496 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 499 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 281 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Joplin
At the 67th percentile nationally, Joplin 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.
Hardening a home in Joplin
Joplin's 75.9% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Joplin's figures come from
Joplin's 67th-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 Joplin's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.