Neche, ND
How exposed is Neche to wildfire?
USFS scores Neche at the 40th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 318 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Neche at the 38th percentile, close to its 40th-percentile risk score.
Where Neche's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 85.5% of Neche's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 14.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Neche ranks
Neche scores 40th nationally and 25th within North Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Neche ranks 19,077 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,159 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 303 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 40th national percentile, Neche rates moderate 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
Neche's 85.5% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Neche's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 318 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Neche. The exposure-zones guide covers what Neche's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.