Gilbertville, IA
How exposed is Gilbertville to wildfire?
Gilbertville sits at the 42nd 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 435 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gilbertville at the 42nd national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Gilbertville's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 92.2% of Gilbertville's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 7.8% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Gilbertville against the rest of the country
Compare Gilbertville's two percentiles: 57th within Iowa, only 42nd nationally — a gap of 16 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gilbertville ranks 18,333 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,548 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 432 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
Gilbertville's elevated rating (42nd 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 92.2% of Gilbertville 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 Gilbertville's figures come from
Gilbertville's 42nd-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 Gilbertville's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.