Rochester, IN
How exposed is Rochester to wildfire?
Rochester's 3,632 buildings earn a 4th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rochester's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 4th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 90.3% of Rochester's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 9.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Rochester compares
Rochester's 32nd-percentile standing inside Indiana outpaces its 4th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rochester ranks 30,131 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,619 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 660 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
Rochester and the insurance market
At the 4th national percentile, Rochester rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Rochester
Rochester's 90.3% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Rochester's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Rochester's 30,131-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rochester's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.