Nuiqsut, AK
How exposed is Nuiqsut to wildfire?
Nuiqsut sits at the 35th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 216 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Nuiqsut at the 38th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Nuiqsut's buildings actually sit
65.7% of Nuiqsut's 216 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 142 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 34.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Nuiqsut compares
Nuiqsut scores 35th nationally and 27th within Alaska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Nuiqsut ranks 20,631 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,262 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 234 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 35th national percentile, Nuiqsut rates moderate 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
Nuiqsut's 65.7% 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.
More on how this number was built
Nuiqsut's 35th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Nuiqsut, see the exposure-zones guide.