Ionia, IA
Ionia, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Ionia at the 24th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 215 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ionia at the 23rd national percentile — 1 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
Most of Ionia's buildings (94% of 215) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Ionia against the rest of the country
Ionia scores 24th nationally and 37th 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, Ionia ranks 24,074 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,304 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 644 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
Ionia's moderate rating (24th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 94% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Ionia gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Ionia's figures come from
Ionia's 24th-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 Ionia's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.