WildfireRiskFinder

New London, IA

New London, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers

Elevated
57thpercentile nationally

USFS scores New London at the 57th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,038 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 New London at the 59th percentile, close to its 57th-percentile risk score.

Where New London's buildings actually sit

1,038Total buildings
12.2%Direct exposure
22.5%Indirect exposure
65.2%Minimal exposure

Most of New London's buildings (65.2% of 1,038) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.

How New London compares

Compare New London'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, New London ranks 13,543 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,670 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 218 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.

New London and the insurance market

New London'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.

What would actually reduce this score

With 65.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, New London gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.

Where New London's figures come from

The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,038 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for New London. The exposure-zones guide covers what New London's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.