Tower, MI
How exposed is Tower to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Tower lands at the 25th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 218 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Tower's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 25th percentile nationally.
Tower's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Tower (55.1% of 218 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 42.7% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Tower ranks
Tower's 76th-percentile standing inside Michigan outpaces its 25th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tower ranks 23,542 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,201 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 182 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Tower's moderate rating (25th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 55.1% of Tower's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Tower's 23,542-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Tower, see the exposure-zones guide.