Bettendorf, IA
Bettendorf wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bettendorf at the 40th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 14,950 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bettendorf at the 44th percentile, close to its 40th-percentile risk score.
Where Bettendorf's buildings actually sit
90.3% of Bettendorf's 14,950 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 9.7% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 14,950 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Bettendorf against the rest of the country
Compare Bettendorf's two percentiles: 55th within Iowa, only 40th nationally — a gap of 15 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bettendorf ranks 18,870 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 995 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 456 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 40th national percentile, Bettendorf rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Bettendorf
Even with 90.3% of Bettendorf outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Bettendorf's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bettendorf's 18,870-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bettendorf's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.