Zilwaukee, MI
Zilwaukee, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Zilwaukee sits at the 16th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,111 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Zilwaukee's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 17th percentile nationally.
Where Zilwaukee's buildings actually sit
Most of Zilwaukee's buildings (44.1%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Zilwaukee ranks
Compare Zilwaukee's two percentiles: 54th within Michigan, only 16th nationally — a gap of 38 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Zilwaukee ranks 26,599 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,211 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 343 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Zilwaukee and the insurance market
Zilwaukee's low wildfire rating (16th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Zilwaukee (44.1% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,111 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Zilwaukee. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Zilwaukee, see the exposure-zones guide.