Thornton, WI
Thornton wildfire risk explained
Thornton's 68 buildings earn a 20th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Thornton at the 20th national percentile — 0 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
60.3% of Thornton's 68 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 41 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 39.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Thornton ranks
There's little gap between Thornton's 20th national percentile and its 32nd percentile inside Wisconsin, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Thornton ranks 25,106 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,370 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 552 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Thornton's moderate rating (20th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Thornton (60.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Thornton's 25,106-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Thornton, see the exposure-zones guide.