Merrill, WI
Merrill, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Merrill sits at the 27th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 4,827 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Merrill's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 26th percentile nationally.
Merrill's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Merrill's buildings (51.3%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Merrill compares
Compare Merrill's two percentiles: 54th within Wisconsin, only 27th nationally — a gap of 27 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Merrill ranks 23,089 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,538 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 372 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Merrill's moderate wildfire rating (27th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Merrill
Merrill's 51.3% 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.
Where Merrill's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,827 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Merrill. The exposure-zones guide covers what Merrill's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.