Meadow Grove, NE
Meadow Grove wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Meadow Grove lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 254 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Meadow Grove's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 61st percentile nationally.
Meadow Grove's building exposure, zone by zone
58.7% of Meadow Grove's 254 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 24% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Meadow Grove against the rest of the country
Meadow Grove's risk sits at a similar level relative to Nebraska (73rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (72nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Meadow Grove ranks 8,796 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,022 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 161 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Meadow Grove and the insurance market
Meadow Grove's 72nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Meadow Grove
Even with 58.7% of Meadow Grove 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.
Where Meadow Grove's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 254 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Meadow Grove. The exposure-zones guide covers what Meadow Grove's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.