Onaway, MI
Onaway, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Onaway's 653 buildings earn a 17th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Onaway at the 16th percentile, close to its 17th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Onaway (82.2% of 653 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 17.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Onaway against the rest of the country
Within Michigan, Onaway ranks higher (57th percentile) than it does nationally (17th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Onaway ranks 26,251 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,163 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 320 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Onaway's low rating (17th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Onaway
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Onaway (82.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Onaway's 26,251-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Onaway, see the exposure-zones guide.