Steele, MO
Steele wildfire risk explained
Steele's 1,020 buildings earn a 3rd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Steele's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 3rd percentile nationally.
Where Steele's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 81.9% of Steele's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 18.1% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Steele against the rest of the country
Steele's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (3rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (3rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Steele ranks 30,707 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,800 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 1,032 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Steele and the insurance market
Steele's low wildfire rating (3rd 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 81.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Steele gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,020 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Steele. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Steele, see the exposure-zones guide.