Rice, MN
How exposed is Rice to wildfire?
USFS scores Rice at the 56th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 941 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rice's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 56th percentile nationally.
Where Rice's buildings actually sit
Most of Rice's buildings (61.6%) 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.
How Rice compares
Within Minnesota, Rice ranks higher (81st percentile) than it does nationally (56th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rice ranks 14,028 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,380 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 174 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Rice and the insurance market
Rice's elevated wildfire rating (56th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Rice's 61.6% 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.
Where Rice's figures come from
Rice's 56th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rice's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.