Murphysboro, IL
How exposed is Murphysboro to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Murphysboro at the 33rd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 4,450 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 Murphysboro at the 35th percentile, close to its 33rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Murphysboro (59.5% of 4,450 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 17.5% sit in the Direct zone.
Murphysboro against the rest of the country
Murphysboro's 84th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 33rd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Murphysboro ranks 21,077 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,837 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 231 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Murphysboro
Murphysboro's moderate wildfire rating (33rd 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Murphysboro (59.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,450 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Murphysboro. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Murphysboro, see the exposure-zones guide.