Sisseton, SD
How exposed is Sisseton to wildfire?
Sisseton's 1,218 buildings earn a 49th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sisseton at the 47th national percentile — 2 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
Most of Sisseton's buildings (85.5% of 1,218) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Sisseton against the rest of the country
Sisseton ranks lower within South Dakota (28th percentile statewide) than its 49th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sisseton ranks 15,993 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,546 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 318 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Sisseton and the insurance market
Sisseton's elevated rating (49th 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
Even with 85.5% of Sisseton 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sisseton's 15,993-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Sisseton, see the exposure-zones guide.