Potosi, WI
Potosi wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Potosi 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 448 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 Potosi at the 23rd percentile, close to its 22nd-percentile risk score.
Where Potosi's buildings actually sit
68.3% of Potosi's 448 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 306 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 31.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Potosi compares
Compare Potosi's two percentiles: 39th within Wisconsin, only 22nd nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Potosi ranks 24,507 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,323 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 494 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Potosi
Potosi'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.
Hardening a home in Potosi
Because Direct exposure dominates in Potosi (68.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Potosi's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Potosi's 24,507-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Potosi's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.