Sanborn, MN
Sanborn, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sanborn lands at the 34th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 330 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sanborn at the 29th national percentile — 5 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
81.8% of Sanborn's 330 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 18.2% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Sanborn ranks
There's little gap between Sanborn's 34th national percentile and its 43rd percentile inside Minnesota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sanborn ranks 20,858 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,821 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 528 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sanborn
Sanborn's moderate wildfire rating (34th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 81.8% of Sanborn outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sanborn's figures come from
Sanborn's 34th-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 Sanborn's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.