Forest City, IA
Forest City wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Forest City lands at the 25th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 2,142 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Forest City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 23rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 16.3% of Forest City's 2,142 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 83.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Forest City compares
Forest City scores 25th nationally and 39th within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Forest City ranks 23,565 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,087 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 623 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Forest City and the insurance market
Forest City's moderate rating (25th 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 83.7% of Forest City 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 Forest City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,142 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Forest City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Forest City's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.