Sunfish Lake, MN
Sunfish Lake, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Sunfish Lake at the 35th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 288 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sunfish Lake at the 37th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 89.9% of Sunfish Lake's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 10.1% Minimal share — a profile where 259 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Sunfish Lake against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Sunfish Lake's 35th national percentile and its 45th percentile inside Minnesota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sunfish Lake ranks 20,454 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,963 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 504 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Sunfish Lake's moderate wildfire rating (35th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Sunfish Lake (89.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sunfish Lake's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sunfish Lake's 20,454-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sunfish Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.