Olathe, KS
How exposed is Olathe to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Olathe lands at the 48th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 43,879 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Olathe's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 49th percentile nationally.
Olathe's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 83.3% of Olathe's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 10.2% Direct and 6.6% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one. At 43,879 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Olathe compares
Olathe ranks lower within Kansas (28th percentile statewide) than its 48th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Olathe ranks 16,257 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 214 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 522 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Olathe and the insurance market
At the 48th national percentile, Olathe rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Olathe
With 83.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Olathe gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
Olathe's 48th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Olathe, see the exposure-zones guide.