Nicollet, MN
How exposed is Nicollet to wildfire?
USFS scores Nicollet at the 50th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 669 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Nicollet's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 38th percentile nationally.
Where Nicollet's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 65% of Nicollet's 669 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 7.9% Direct and 27.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Nicollet against the rest of the country
Within Minnesota, Nicollet ranks higher (73rd percentile) than it does nationally (50th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Nicollet ranks 15,918 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,974 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 244 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Nicollet and the insurance market
Nicollet's elevated wildfire rating (50th 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.
Hardening a home in Nicollet
Because 65% of Nicollet'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 Nicollet's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Nicollet's 15,918-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Nicollet's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.