Utica, SD
How exposed is Utica to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Utica at the 43rd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 79 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Utica at the 42nd percentile, close to its 43rd-percentile risk score.
Where Utica's buildings actually sit
57% of Utica's 79 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 43% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Utica against the rest of the country
Inside South Dakota, Utica sits at just the 17th percentile even though it scores 43rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Utica ranks 18,107 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,946 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 363 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Utica
At the 43rd national percentile, Utica rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 57% of Utica outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Utica's 18,107-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Utica, see the exposure-zones guide.