Houghton, IA
How exposed is Houghton to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Houghton lands at the 8th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 150 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Houghton at the 8th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Houghton's building exposure, zone by zone
92% of Houghton's 150 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Houghton against the rest of the country
Houghton scores 8th nationally and 16th 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, Houghton ranks 29,084 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,875 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 855 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
Houghton's low wildfire rating (8th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With 92% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Houghton gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Houghton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 150 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Houghton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Houghton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.