Montpelier, IA
Montpelier wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Montpelier at the 65th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 138 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 Montpelier at the 68th percentile, close to its 65th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Montpelier's buildings (58.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Montpelier against the rest of the country
Montpelier's 89th-percentile standing inside Iowa outpaces its 65th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montpelier ranks 10,998 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,363 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 116 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Montpelier
At the 65th percentile nationally, Montpelier carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Montpelier's 58.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Montpelier's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 138 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montpelier. The exposure-zones guide covers what Montpelier's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.