St. Cloud, WI
St. Cloud wildfire risk explained
St. Cloud's 308 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.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Cloud's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 37th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 75% of St. Cloud's 308 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 25% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
St. Cloud against the rest of the country
Within Wisconsin, St. Cloud ranks higher (82nd percentile) than it does nationally (35th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Cloud ranks 20,441 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,434 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 145 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
St. Cloud and the insurance market
At the 35th national percentile, St. Cloud 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 St. Cloud
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in St. Cloud (75% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 308 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. Cloud. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond St. Cloud, see the exposure-zones guide.