Martin Lake, MN
How exposed is Martin Lake to wildfire?
USFS scores Martin Lake at the 69th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 635 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Martin Lake's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 64th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 84.4% of Martin Lake's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 11.3% Indirect share and far above its 4.3% Minimal share — a profile where 536 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Martin Lake compares
Compare Martin Lake's two percentiles: 93rd within Minnesota, only 69th nationally — a gap of 24 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Martin Lake ranks 9,738 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,403 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 65 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Martin Lake
At the 69th percentile nationally, Martin Lake carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Martin Lake
Because Direct exposure dominates in Martin Lake (84.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Martin Lake's 9,738-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Martin Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.