South Chicago Heights, IL
South Chicago Heights, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, South Chicago Heights lands at the 48th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,211 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, South Chicago Heights's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
Where South Chicago Heights's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 97.7% of South Chicago Heights's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 2.3% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How South Chicago Heights compares
Compare South Chicago Heights's two percentiles: 98th within Illinois, only 48th nationally — a gap of 50 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South Chicago Heights ranks 16,446 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,908 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 36 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in South Chicago Heights
South Chicago Heights's elevated wildfire rating (48th 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.
Hardening a home in South Chicago Heights
Even with 97.7% of South Chicago Heights 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
South Chicago Heights's 48th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond South Chicago Heights, see the exposure-zones guide.