Westby, WI
Westby wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Westby at the 18th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,285 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 Westby at the 19th percentile, close to its 18th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
1,285 buildings are counted in Westby, and 63.4% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 15.9% in Direct exposure or the 20.8% rated Minimal.
How Westby compares
There's little gap between Westby's 18th national percentile and its 24th percentile inside Wisconsin, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Westby ranks 25,862 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,166 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 612 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Westby
Westby's low rating (18th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Westby (63.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Westby's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Westby's 25,862-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Westby's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.