Dexter, IA
How exposed is Dexter to wildfire?
Dexter sits at the 45th 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 523 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Dexter at the 46th percentile, close to its 45th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
73.2% of Dexter's 523 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 24.5% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Dexter against the rest of the country
Compare Dexter's two percentiles: 61st within Iowa, only 45th nationally — a gap of 16 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dexter ranks 17,421 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,980 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 399 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
Dexter's elevated rating (45th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Dexter
Even with 73.2% of Dexter 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 523 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Dexter. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Dexter, see the exposure-zones guide.