Oakes, ND
How exposed is Oakes to wildfire?
USFS scores Oakes at the 59th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,225 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oakes's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 54th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
58.8% of Oakes's 1,225 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 13.2% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Oakes ranks
Oakes scores 59th nationally and 71st within North Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oakes ranks 12,926 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,497 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 116 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Oakes's elevated wildfire rating (59th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 58.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Oakes gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Oakes's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Oakes's 12,926-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Oakes's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.