New Underwood, SD
How exposed is New Underwood to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, New Underwood lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 421 buildings, not the land around them. (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 Underwood at the 87th percentile, close to its 87th-percentile risk score.
New Underwood's building exposure, zone by zone
80.8% of New Underwood's 421 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 19.2% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where New Underwood ranks
New Underwood's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (88th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (87th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, New Underwood ranks 4,050 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,808 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 53 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in New Underwood
New Underwood's very high rating (87th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
New Underwood's 80.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where New Underwood's figures come from
New Underwood's 87th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what New Underwood's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.