Manchester, IA
How exposed is Manchester to wildfire?
USFS scores Manchester at the 13th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 2,772 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 Manchester at the 12th percentile, close to its 13th-percentile risk score.
Where Manchester's buildings actually sit
88.2% of Manchester's 2,772 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 11.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Manchester compares
Manchester scores 13th nationally and 22nd 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, Manchester ranks 27,539 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,819 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 789 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Manchester
Manchester's low wildfire rating (13th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 88.2% of Manchester 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 Manchester's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,772 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Manchester. The exposure-zones guide covers what Manchester's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.