McHenry, IL
McHenry wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts McHenry at the 32nd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 10,465 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts McHenry at the 33rd percentile, close to its 32nd-percentile risk score.
Where McHenry's buildings actually sit
Most of McHenry's buildings (89.3% of 10,465) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 10,465 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
McHenry against the rest of the country
McHenry's 82nd-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 32nd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McHenry ranks 21,579 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,520 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 266 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in McHenry
At the 32nd national percentile, McHenry rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in McHenry
Even with 89.3% of McHenry outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
McHenry's 32nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond McHenry, see the exposure-zones guide.