Montana City, MT
Montana City wildfire risk explained
Montana City's 1,847 buildings earn a 92nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Montana City at the 89th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Montana City's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 85.8% of Montana City's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 14.2% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 1,585 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Montana City compares
Montana City's risk sits at a similar level relative to Montana (82nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (92nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montana City ranks 2,421 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,920 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 87 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Montana City
At the 92nd percentile nationally, Montana City carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Montana City (85.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Montana City's 2,421-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Montana City, see the exposure-zones guide.