Thornton, CO
Thornton wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Thornton at the 50th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 39,953 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Thornton at the 51st national percentile — 1 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
Most of Thornton's buildings (95.6% of 39,953) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 39,953 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Thornton against the rest of the country
Thornton ranks lower within Colorado (18th percentile statewide) than its 50th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Thornton ranks 15,747 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 243 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 387 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Thornton and the insurance market
Thornton's elevated rating (50th 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 Thornton
With 95.6% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Thornton gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Thornton's figures come from
Thornton's 50th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Thornton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.