Malden, IL
Malden wildfire risk explained
Malden's 250 buildings earn a 1st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Malden at the 1st national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Malden's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 85.2% of Malden's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 14.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Malden against the rest of the country
Malden scores 1st nationally and 12th within Illinois — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Malden ranks 31,068 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,136 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,276 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Malden
Malden's low rating (1st percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 85.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Malden gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 250 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Malden. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Malden, see the exposure-zones guide.