Scotland, SD
How exposed is Scotland to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Scotland lands at the 56th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 686 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Scotland's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 54th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 72.2% of Scotland's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 27.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Scotland against the rest of the country
Scotland's 56th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 38th ranking inside South Dakota does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 17 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Scotland ranks 14,007 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,810 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 270 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Scotland and the insurance market
Scotland's elevated rating (56th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Scotland's 72.2% 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 Scotland's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 686 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Scotland. The exposure-zones guide covers what Scotland's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.