Prairie City, SD
Prairie City wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Prairie City lands at the 68th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 52 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 Prairie City at the 66th percentile, close to its 68th-percentile risk score.
Prairie City's building exposure, zone by zone
61.5% of Prairie City's 52 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 32 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 38.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Prairie City ranks
Prairie City scores 68th nationally and 62nd within South Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Prairie City ranks 10,255 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,889 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 168 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Prairie City's high rating (68th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 61.5% of Prairie City in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 52 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Prairie City. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Prairie City, see the exposure-zones guide.