Albion, IA
How exposed is Albion to wildfire?
USFS scores Albion at the 61st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 380 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Albion's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 62nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
80.5% of Albion's 380 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 19.5% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Albion against the rest of the country
Albion's 85th-percentile standing inside Iowa outpaces its 61st national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Albion ranks 12,226 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,643 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 155 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Albion and the insurance market
Albion's high rating (61st percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Albion's 80.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Albion's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Albion's 12,226-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Albion's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.