Humboldt, IA
How exposed is Humboldt to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Humboldt lands at the 16th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 2,530 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Humboldt at the 14th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 14.1% of Humboldt's 2,530 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0.4% carry Indirect; the remaining 85.5% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Humboldt against the rest of the country
Humboldt scores 16th nationally and 26th 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, Humboldt ranks 26,435 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,242 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 748 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Humboldt
Humboldt's low rating (16th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Humboldt
Even with 85.5% of Humboldt 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 Humboldt's figures come from
Humboldt's 16th-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 Humboldt's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.