West Salem, WI
West Salem, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, West Salem lands at the 23rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 2,261 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, West Salem's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 24th percentile nationally.
West Salem's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 96.5% of West Salem's 2,261 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 3.1% Direct and 0.4% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where West Salem ranks
Compare West Salem's two percentiles: 41st within Wisconsin, only 23rd nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Salem ranks 24,381 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,792 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 483 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
West Salem's moderate rating (23rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in West Salem
West Salem's 96.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
West Salem's 23rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond West Salem, see the exposure-zones guide.