Wacousta, MI
Wacousta wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Wacousta at the 10th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,074 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wacousta at the 10th percentile, close to its 10th-percentile risk score.
Wacousta's building exposure, zone by zone
1,074 buildings are counted in Wacousta, and 76.4% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 23.7% rated Minimal.
Wacousta against the rest of the country
Compare Wacousta's two percentiles: 35th within Michigan, only 10th nationally — a gap of 25 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wacousta ranks 28,308 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,438 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 488 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Wacousta
Wacousta's low rating (10th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Wacousta (76.4%), 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,074 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wacousta. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Wacousta, see the exposure-zones guide.