Merino, CO
How exposed is Merino to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Merino lands at the 53rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 212 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Merino at the 52nd percentile, close to its 53rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
54.3% of Merino's 212 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 4.7% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Merino ranks
Inside Colorado, Merino sits at just the 21st percentile even though it scores 53rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Merino ranks 14,899 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,387 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 374 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Merino
At the 53rd national percentile, Merino rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 54.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Merino gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Merino's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Merino's 14,899-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Merino's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.