Manchester, MI
Manchester wildfire risk explained
Manchester's 1,094 buildings earn a 21st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Manchester at the 23rd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Manchester's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 69.1% of Manchester's 1,094 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 30.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Manchester ranks
Compare Manchester's two percentiles: 69th within Michigan, only 21st nationally — a gap of 48 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Manchester ranks 24,776 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,315 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 229 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 21st national percentile, Manchester rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Manchester's 69.1% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Manchester's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Manchester's 24,776-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Manchester's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.