Sterling, CO
Sterling, CO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Sterling at the 58th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 5,945 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sterling at the 55th national percentile — 3 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
USFS puts 50.1% of Sterling's 5,945 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 3% Direct and 46.8% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to. At 5,945 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Sterling against the rest of the country
Sterling ranks lower within Colorado (27th percentile statewide) than its 58th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sterling ranks 13,165 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,897 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 345 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sterling
Sterling's elevated rating (58th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Sterling
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Sterling (50.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Sterling's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sterling's 13,165-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sterling's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.