New Salem, ND
How exposed is New Salem to wildfire?
USFS scores New Salem at the 42nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 769 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 New Salem at the 39th percentile, close to its 42nd-percentile risk score.
Where New Salem's buildings actually sit
Most of New Salem's buildings (85.8%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
New Salem against the rest of the country
There's little gap between New Salem's 42nd national percentile and its 28th percentile inside North Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, New Salem ranks 18,411 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,928 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 288 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
New Salem and the insurance market
At the 42nd national percentile, New Salem rates elevated 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
Because 85.8% of New Salem's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where New Salem's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind New Salem's 18,411-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what New Salem's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.