Sister Bay, WI
Sister Bay wildfire risk explained
Sister Bay's 961 buildings earn a 35th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sister Bay at the 36th national percentile — 1 points above 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 62.2% of Sister Bay's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 2.1% Indirect share and far above its 35.7% Minimal share — a profile where 598 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Sister Bay ranks
Compare Sister Bay's two percentiles: 83rd within Wisconsin, only 35th nationally — a gap of 48 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sister Bay ranks 20,377 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,223 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 137 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Sister Bay and the insurance market
At the 35th national percentile, Sister Bay rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Sister Bay
Sister Bay's 62.2% 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 961 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sister Bay. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Sister Bay, see the exposure-zones guide.