Kell, IL
Kell, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kell lands at the 17th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 156 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Kell at the 17th percentile, close to its 17th-percentile risk score.
Where Kell's buildings actually sit
59% of Kell's 156 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 92 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 41% are Minimal.
Where Kell ranks
Within Illinois, Kell ranks higher (56th percentile) than it does nationally (17th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kell ranks 26,212 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,607 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 637 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Kell and the insurance market
At the 17th national percentile, Kell rates low 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 Kell
Kell's 59% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Kell's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kell's 26,212-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kell's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.