Princeton, WI
Princeton, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Princeton at the 49th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 844 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Princeton at the 49th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Princeton's buildings (70%) 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.
Princeton against the rest of the country
Compare Princeton's two percentiles: 98th within Wisconsin, only 49th nationally — a gap of 49 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Princeton ranks 15,965 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,218 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 18 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Princeton's elevated wildfire rating (49th 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 Princeton
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Princeton (70% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Princeton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Princeton's 15,965-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Princeton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.