Oxbow, ND
Oxbow, ND's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Oxbow lands at the 22nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 172 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Oxbow at the 20th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Oxbow rates 80.8% Minimal exposure against just 19.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 172 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
How Oxbow compares
Inside North Dakota, Oxbow sits at just the 7th percentile even though it scores 22nd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oxbow ranks 24,494 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,954 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 374 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Oxbow
Oxbow's moderate wildfire rating (22nd 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
Even with 80.8% of Oxbow 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 Oxbow's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 172 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Oxbow. The exposure-zones guide covers what Oxbow's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.