Lake Andes, SD
Lake Andes, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Lake Andes lands at the 74th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 459 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lake Andes's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 69th percentile nationally.
Where Lake Andes's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 66.5% of Lake Andes's 459 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 33.6% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Lake Andes ranks
There's little gap between Lake Andes's 74th national percentile and its 72nd percentile inside South Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Andes ranks 8,073 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,089 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 122 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Lake Andes
Lake Andes's 74th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Lake Andes (66.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Lake Andes's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 459 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lake Andes. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lake Andes's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.