St. Mary, MT
St. Mary, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores St. Mary at the 87th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 143 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks St. Mary at the 86th 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
143 buildings are counted in St. Mary, and 51.8% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where St. Mary ranks
St. Mary's 87th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 69th ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 19 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Mary ranks 3,970 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,165 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 149 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in St. Mary
At the 87th percentile nationally, St. Mary carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in St. Mary
Because Direct exposure dominates in St. Mary (51.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where St. Mary's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind St. Mary's 3,970-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what St. Mary's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.