Oldham, SD
Oldham, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Oldham lands at the 36th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 149 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Oldham at the 31st national percentile — 5 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Oldham's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Oldham's 149 counted buildings, 74.5% carry Direct exposure and only 25.5% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Oldham ranks
Oldham's 36th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 9th ranking inside South Dakota does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 27 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oldham ranks 20,091 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,929 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 398 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Oldham
Oldham's moderate wildfire rating (36th 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 74.5% of Oldham in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Oldham's figures come from
Oldham's 36th-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 Oldham's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.