Sholes, NE
How exposed is Sholes to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sholes lands at the 45th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 32 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sholes at the 35th national percentile — 11 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
USFS classifies 65.6% of Sholes's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 34.4% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Sholes compares
Sholes ranks lower within Nebraska (30th percentile statewide) than its 45th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sholes ranks 17,272 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 31,330 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 408 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Sholes's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 65.6% of Sholes 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 Sholes's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sholes's 17,272-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sholes's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.