Independence, IA
Independence, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Independence sits at the 17th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 3,368 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Independence at the 17th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Independence's buildings actually sit
Only 9.8% of Independence's 3,368 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 90.2% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Where Independence ranks
Independence's risk sits at a similar level relative to Iowa (28th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (17th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Independence ranks 26,090 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,959 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 736 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Independence
At the 17th national percentile, Independence rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Independence's 90.2% 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.
More on how this number was built
Independence's 17th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Independence, see the exposure-zones guide.