Kalispell, MT
How exposed is Kalispell to wildfire?
Kalispell sits at the 56th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 10,315 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Kalispell at the 56th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Kalispell's building exposure, zone by zone
Kalispell rates 59.2% Minimal exposure against just 13.3% Direct and 27.5% Indirect — of 10,315 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually. At 10,315 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Kalispell compares
Kalispell ranks lower within Montana (19th percentile statewide) than its 56th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kalispell ranks 13,870 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,548 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 383 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Kalispell
Kalispell's elevated wildfire rating (56th 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 59.2% of Kalispell 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.
Where Kalispell's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kalispell's 13,870-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kalispell's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.