Birmingham, IA
How exposed is Birmingham to wildfire?
Birmingham's 339 buildings earn a 64th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Birmingham at the 65th percentile, close to its 64th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Birmingham's buildings (73.8%) 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 Birmingham ranks
Within Iowa, Birmingham ranks higher (87th percentile) than it does nationally (64th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Birmingham ranks 11,497 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,590 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 130 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
Birmingham's high rating (64th 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.
Hardening a home in Birmingham
Birmingham's 73.8% 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 Birmingham's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Birmingham's 11,497-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Birmingham's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.