Alton, IA
Alton wildfire risk explained
Alton's 711 buildings earn a 32nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Alton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 30th percentile nationally.
Alton's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 31.7% of Alton's 711 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 68.4% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Alton against the rest of the country
Within Iowa, Alton ranks higher (47th percentile) than it does nationally (32nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alton ranks 21,521 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,546 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 543 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 32nd national percentile, Alton rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Alton's 68.4% 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 Alton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Alton's 21,521-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Alton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.