Painesdale, MI
Painesdale, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Painesdale at the 18th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 239 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Painesdale at the 19th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 59.8% of Painesdale's 239 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 40.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Painesdale compares
Within Michigan, Painesdale ranks higher (62nd percentile) than it does nationally (18th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Painesdale ranks 25,717 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,497 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 284 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Painesdale
Painesdale's low rating (18th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Painesdale's 59.8% 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 Painesdale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 239 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Painesdale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Painesdale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.