Owatonna, MN
Owatonna wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Owatonna at the 14th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 10,510 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Owatonna's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 12th percentile nationally.
Where Owatonna's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 86.8% of Owatonna's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 13.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one. At 10,510 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Owatonna compares
Owatonna scores 14th nationally and 18th within Minnesota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Owatonna ranks 27,265 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,517 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 754 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Owatonna's low wildfire rating (14th 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.
Hardening a home in Owatonna
Even with 86.8% of Owatonna outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Owatonna's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 10,510 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Owatonna. The exposure-zones guide covers what Owatonna's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.