Parker, SD
Parker wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Parker lands at the 42nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 776 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Parker at the 42nd percentile, close to its 42nd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 71.7% of Parker's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 28.4% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Parker against the rest of the country
Inside South Dakota, Parker sits at just the 17th percentile even though it scores 42nd 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, Parker ranks 18,200 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,858 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 366 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Parker
Parker's elevated wildfire rating (42nd 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 71.7% of Parker 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 Parker's figures come from
Parker's 42nd-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 Parker's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.