Mesick, MI
Mesick, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Mesick's 314 buildings earn a 44th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Mesick at the 43rd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Mesick's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Mesick: 50% of its 314 buildings, versus 50% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Mesick against the rest of the country
Within Michigan, Mesick ranks higher (93rd percentile) than it does nationally (44th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mesick ranks 17,518 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,251 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 53 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Mesick and the insurance market
Mesick's elevated wildfire rating (44th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Mesick's 50% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Mesick's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Mesick's 17,518-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mesick's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.