Waterville, MN
How exposed is Waterville to wildfire?
Waterville's 1,133 buildings earn a 17th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Waterville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 15th percentile nationally.
Where Waterville's buildings actually sit
71.3% of Waterville's 1,133 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 28.7% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Waterville ranks
Waterville scores 17th nationally and 20th 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, Waterville ranks 26,252 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,060 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 730 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Waterville and the insurance market
Waterville's low rating (17th 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 71.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Waterville 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
Waterville's 17th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Waterville, see the exposure-zones guide.