Norfolk, NE
Norfolk wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Norfolk lands at the 81st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 10,831 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Norfolk's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 87.2% of Norfolk's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 8.2% Direct and 4.6% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one. At 10,831 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Norfolk against the rest of the country
Norfolk scores 81st nationally and 87th within Nebraska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Norfolk ranks 6,054 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,462 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 75 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Norfolk and the insurance market
Norfolk's very high rating (81st 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
Even with 87.2% of Norfolk outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Norfolk's figures come from
Norfolk's 81st-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 Norfolk's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.