Monona, IA
How exposed is Monona to wildfire?
USFS scores Monona at the 6th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 932 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Monona at the 6th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Monona's building exposure, zone by zone
67% of Monona's 932 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 7.2% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Monona compares
Monona scores 6th nationally and 13th 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, Monona ranks 29,690 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,452 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 884 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Monona
Monona's low wildfire rating (6th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 67% of Monona 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 932 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Monona. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Monona, see the exposure-zones guide.