Richland, MI
How exposed is Richland to wildfire?
Richland's 524 buildings earn a 13th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Richland at the 14th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Richland's buildings actually sit
55.2% of Richland's 524 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 289 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 44.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Richland against the rest of the country
Compare Richland's two percentiles: 46th within Michigan, only 13th nationally — a gap of 33 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Richland ranks 27,359 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,963 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 403 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Richland
Richland's low wildfire rating (13th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Richland (55.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Richland's 13th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Richland, see the exposure-zones guide.