Bradgate, IA
Bradgate wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bradgate lands at the 26th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 101 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bradgate at the 22nd national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Bradgate's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 78.2% of Bradgate's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 21.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Bradgate against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Bradgate's 26th national percentile and its 40th percentile inside Iowa, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bradgate ranks 23,443 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,991 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 614 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bradgate
Bradgate's moderate rating (26th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 78.2% of Bradgate 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 Bradgate's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 101 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bradgate. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bradgate's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.