St. James, MO
How exposed is St. James to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts St. James at the 67th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 2,032 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. James's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 70th percentile nationally.
St. James's building exposure, zone by zone
2,032 buildings are counted in St. James, and 70.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 29.5% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where St. James ranks
St. James's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (76th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (67th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. James ranks 10,273 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,379 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 264 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in St. James
St. James's high rating (67th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 70.5% of St. James's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where St. James's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind St. James's 10,273-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what St. James's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.