Newton, IL
How exposed is Newton to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Newton at the 5th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 2,048 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Newton at the 5th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Newton's buildings actually sit
2,048 buildings are counted in Newton, and 77.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 12.3% in Direct exposure or the 10.2% rated Minimal.
Where Newton ranks
Compare Newton's two percentiles: 27th within Illinois, only 5th nationally — a gap of 23 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Newton ranks 30,032 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,337 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,056 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Newton and the insurance market
At the 5th national percentile, Newton rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Newton's 77.5% 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 Newton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Newton's 30,032-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Newton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.