Lake Panorama, IA
Lake Panorama, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Lake Panorama lands at the 57th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,170 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lake Panorama's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 58th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 70.3% of Lake Panorama's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0.5% Indirect share and far above its 29.2% Minimal share — a profile where 822 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Lake Panorama against the rest of the country
Compare Lake Panorama's two percentiles: 79th within Iowa, only 57th nationally — a gap of 22 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Panorama ranks 13,576 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,827 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 219 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
Lake Panorama's elevated rating (57th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Lake Panorama's 70.3% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Lake Panorama's figures come from
Lake Panorama's 57th-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 Lake Panorama's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.