Milton, IL
Milton, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Milton's 208 buildings earn a 12th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Milton at the 11th percentile, close to its 12th-percentile risk score.
Milton's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 87% of Milton's 208 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 9.1% Direct and 3.9% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Milton compares
Within Illinois, Milton ranks higher (46th percentile) than it does nationally (12th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Milton ranks 27,818 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,546 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 779 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Milton and the insurance market
At the 12th national percentile, Milton rates low 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in Milton (87% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Milton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 208 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Milton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Milton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.