Oswego, KS
Oswego wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Oswego at the 50th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,213 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oswego's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Oswego's buildings (65.3%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Oswego against the rest of the country
Oswego's 50th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 32nd ranking inside Kansas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 18 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oswego ranks 15,782 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,578 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 493 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Oswego
Oswego's elevated rating (50th 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 Oswego
Oswego's 65.3% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Oswego's figures come from
Oswego's 50th-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 Oswego's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.