Verndale, MN
Verndale, MN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Verndale sits at the 39th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 385 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Verndale at the 37th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Verndale's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 65.7% of Verndale's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 34.3% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Verndale ranks
Verndale scores 39th nationally and 52nd within Minnesota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Verndale ranks 19,318 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,525 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 443 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Verndale and the insurance market
Verndale's moderate rating (39th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 65.7% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Verndale gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 385 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Verndale. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Verndale, see the exposure-zones guide.