Hiawatha, IA
Hiawatha wildfire risk explained
Hiawatha's 3,224 buildings earn a 40th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hiawatha's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 42nd percentile nationally.
Where Hiawatha's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 77.1% of Hiawatha's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 8% Direct and 15% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Hiawatha ranks
Hiawatha scores 40th nationally and 55th 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, Hiawatha ranks 18,934 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,138 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 460 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Hiawatha and the insurance market
At the 40th national percentile, Hiawatha rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Hiawatha
Hiawatha's 77.1% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Hiawatha's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,224 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Hiawatha. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hiawatha's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.