WildfireRiskFinder

Wilmot, SD

Wilmot wildfire risk explained

Elevated
57thpercentile nationally

USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Wilmot at the 57th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 371 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)

Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Wilmot at the 49th national percentile — 8 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.

What "at risk" means for the buildings here

371Total buildings
20.8%Direct exposure
0%Indirect exposure
79.3%Minimal exposure

79.3% of Wilmot's 371 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 20.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.

How Wilmot compares

Wilmot's 57th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 41st ranking inside South Dakota does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 16 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wilmot ranks 13,601 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,848 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 260 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.

Shopping for coverage in Wilmot

At the 57th national percentile, Wilmot rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.

Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it

Wilmot's 79.3% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.

Where Wilmot's figures come from

The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 371 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wilmot. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wilmot's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.