Ellston, IA
Ellston wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ellston lands at the 64th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 64 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ellston's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 65th percentile nationally.
Where Ellston's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 50% of Ellston's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 50% Minimal share — a profile where 32 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Ellston against the rest of the country
Ellston's 88th-percentile standing inside Iowa outpaces its 64th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ellston ranks 11,343 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,501 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 122 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Ellston and the insurance market
Ellston'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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 50% of Ellston in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Ellston's 11,343-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ellston, see the exposure-zones guide.