Emmetsburg, IA
How exposed is Emmetsburg to wildfire?
Emmetsburg sits at the 47th 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 2,186 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Emmetsburg at the 44th national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Emmetsburg's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 16.7% of Emmetsburg's 2,186 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 83.4% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Emmetsburg against the rest of the country
Compare Emmetsburg's two percentiles: 65th within Iowa, only 47th nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Emmetsburg ranks 16,634 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,972 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 359 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Emmetsburg
At the 47th national percentile, Emmetsburg rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 83.4% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Emmetsburg gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Emmetsburg's figures come from
Emmetsburg's 47th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Emmetsburg's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.