Knierim, IA
Knierim wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Knierim at the 3rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 79 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 Knierim at the 2nd percentile, close to its 3rd-percentile risk score.
Where Knierim's buildings actually sit
Only 5.1% of Knierim's 79 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 94.9% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Knierim compares
Knierim scores 3rd nationally and 4th 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, Knierim ranks 30,735 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,917 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 975 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Knierim and the insurance market
At the 3rd national percentile, Knierim 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
Even with 94.9% of Knierim 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 Knierim's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Knierim's 30,735-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Knierim's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.