Sanborn, ND
Sanborn wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Sanborn at the 52nd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 179 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sanborn at the 50th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Sanborn's buildings actually sit
Sanborn rates 57% Minimal exposure against just 43% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 179 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Sanborn against the rest of the country
Sanborn scores 52nd nationally and 57th within North Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sanborn ranks 15,231 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,683 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 175 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sanborn
At the 52nd national percentile, Sanborn rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Sanborn's 57% 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 Sanborn's figures come from
Sanborn's 52nd-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.