Waite Park, MN
How exposed is Waite Park to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Waite Park lands at the 57th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,963 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Waite Park's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 55th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 48.1% of Waite Park's 2,963 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 9.8% Direct and 42.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Waite Park against the rest of the country
Within Minnesota, Waite Park ranks higher (83rd percentile) than it does nationally (57th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waite Park ranks 13,585 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,495 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 155 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Waite Park and the insurance market
Waite Park's elevated wildfire rating (57th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Waite Park
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Waite Park (48.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Waite Park's figures come from
Waite Park's 57th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Waite Park's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.