Meridian, ID
Meridian, ID's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Meridian at the 78th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 42,213 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Meridian at the 81st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
77.6% of Meridian's 42,213 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 22.4% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 42,213 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Meridian compares
Meridian ranks lower within Idaho (46th percentile statewide) than its 78th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Meridian ranks 6,839 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 226 by building count (1 is largest). Within Idaho alone, it ranks 127 of 232 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Idaho on its state page.
Meridian and the insurance market
At the 78th percentile nationally, Meridian 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 Meridian
Meridian's 77.6% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Meridian's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 42,213 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Meridian. The exposure-zones guide covers what Meridian's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.