Skokie, IL: what USGS's seismic model says

Skokie carries Seismic Design Category B under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Skokie ranks above 34% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 34th percentile.

Skokie by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.056g, short-period spectral response 0.113g, 1-second spectral response 0.061g. Among 330 Illinois cities in this dataset, Skokie ranks 270 for seismic hazard, the 18th percentile within the state. About 65,850 people live in Skokie, Illinois.

Retrofit economics for Skokie

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Illinois. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

Earthquake insurance for a Skokie home

Outside California, earthquake coverage is typically sold as an endorsement added to a standard homeowners policy, not a separate product - worth asking about directly when getting a home-insurance quote for a Skokie address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Skokie's numbers. The guide to what a Seismic Design Category actually means covers why a category is never a substitute for an engineer's assessment of one specific house.