Mitchell, IL
Mitchell wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Mitchell at the 3rd national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 772 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mitchell at the 4th percentile, close to its 3rd-percentile risk score.
Mitchell's building exposure, zone by zone
90.9% of Mitchell's 772 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 9.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Mitchell against the rest of the country
Within Illinois, Mitchell ranks higher (21st percentile) than it does nationally (3rd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mitchell ranks 30,502 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,900 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,143 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Mitchell's low wildfire rating (3rd 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 Mitchell
With 90.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Mitchell gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 772 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mitchell. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Mitchell, see the exposure-zones guide.