Iuka, MS
Iuka wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Iuka at the 71st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,745 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Iuka at the 74th percentile, close to its 71st-percentile risk score.
Where Iuka's buildings actually sit
59.1% of Iuka's 1,745 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,032 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 40.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Iuka against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Iuka's 71st national percentile and its 61st percentile inside Mississippi, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Iuka ranks 9,077 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,246 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 162 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Iuka and the insurance market
Iuka's high rating (71st percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Iuka (59.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Iuka's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Iuka's 9,077-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Iuka's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.