Presho, SD
Presho wildfire risk explained
Presho's 473 buildings earn a 66th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Presho at the 63rd national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Presho's building exposure, zone by zone
473 buildings are counted in Presho, and 92.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 7.2% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Presho compares
Presho's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (59th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (66th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Presho ranks 10,727 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,832 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 181 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
Presho's 66th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Presho
Presho's 92.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 473 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Presho. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Presho, see the exposure-zones guide.