Wausa, NE
How exposed is Wausa to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Wausa at the 49th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 449 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Wausa's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 43rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
86.2% of Wausa's 449 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 13.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Wausa ranks
There's little gap between Wausa's 49th national percentile and its 36th percentile inside Nebraska, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wausa ranks 16,048 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,299 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 375 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Wausa's elevated rating (49th 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
Even with 86.2% of Wausa 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.
Where Wausa's figures come from
Wausa's 49th-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 Wausa's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.