Niles, KS
Niles, KS's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Niles sits at the 54th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 64 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Niles at the 47th percentile, close to its 54th-percentile risk score.
Where Niles's buildings actually sit
51.6% of Niles's 64 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 33 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 48.4% are Minimal.
Niles against the rest of the country
Niles scores 54th nationally and 41st within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Niles ranks 14,369 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,505 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 424 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Niles
At the 54th national percentile, Niles 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
Niles's 51.6% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Niles's figures come from
Niles's 54th-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 Niles's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.