Cromwell, IA
Cromwell wildfire risk explained
Cromwell sits at the 40th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 97 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cromwell's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 40th percentile nationally.
Cromwell's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 49.5% of Cromwell's 97 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 50.5% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Cromwell compares
Within Iowa, Cromwell ranks higher (55th percentile) than it does nationally (40th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cromwell ranks 18,872 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,174 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 458 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Cromwell and the insurance market
Cromwell's elevated wildfire rating (40th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Cromwell
Cromwell's 50.5% 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 Cromwell's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 97 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cromwell. The exposure-zones guide covers what Cromwell's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.