Pine City, MN
Pine City wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Pine City at the 52nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,715 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Pine City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Pine City's buildings (52.8%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Pine City against the rest of the country
Within Minnesota, Pine City ranks higher (77th percentile) than it does nationally (52nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pine City ranks 15,000 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,367 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 208 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Pine City and the insurance market
At the 52nd national percentile, Pine City rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 52.8% of Pine City's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Pine City's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Pine City's 15,000-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Pine City's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.