Martin, SD
Martin wildfire risk explained
Martin's 571 buildings earn a 86th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Martin at the 84th percentile, close to its 86th-percentile risk score.
Where Martin's buildings actually sit
571 buildings are counted in Martin, and 97.7% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 2.3% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Martin against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Martin's 86th national percentile and its 87th 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, Martin ranks 4,329 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,241 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 59 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Martin and the insurance market
Martin's very high rating (86th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Martin
Martin's 97.7% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 571 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Martin. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Martin, see the exposure-zones guide.