Yelm, WA
Yelm wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Yelm lands at the 30th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 3,493 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Yelm's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 33rd percentile nationally.
Where Yelm's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 87.2% of Yelm's 3,493 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 12.8% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Yelm compares
Within Washington, Yelm ranks higher (49th percentile) than it does nationally (30th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Yelm ranks 22,174 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,778 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 321 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Yelm's moderate wildfire rating (30th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Yelm
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Yelm (87.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Yelm's 30th-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 Yelm, see the exposure-zones guide.