Santa Rita, MT
Santa Rita, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Santa Rita sits at the 59th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 131 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Santa Rita at the 59th percentile, close to its 59th-percentile risk score.
Where Santa Rita's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 63.4% of Santa Rita's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 36.6% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 83 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Santa Rita ranks
Inside Montana, Santa Rita sits at just the 23rd percentile even though it scores 59th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Santa Rita ranks 12,920 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,675 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 367 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Santa Rita's elevated rating (59th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Santa Rita's 63.4% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 131 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Santa Rita. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Santa Rita, see the exposure-zones guide.