Palco, KS
Palco wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Palco lands at the 55th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 246 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Palco's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
Where Palco's buildings actually sit
Only 9.4% of Palco's 246 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 90.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Where Palco ranks
Palco scores 55th nationally and 42nd within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Palco ranks 14,304 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,266 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 423 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 55th national percentile, Palco rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Palco's 90.7% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Palco's figures come from
Palco's 55th-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 Palco's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.