New Sharon, IA
New Sharon, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
New Sharon's 776 buildings earn a 47th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (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 Sharon at the 49th percentile, close to its 47th-percentile risk score.
Where New Sharon's buildings actually sit
Most of New Sharon's buildings (85.4% of 776) 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.
New Sharon against the rest of the country
Compare New Sharon's two percentiles: 65th within Iowa, only 47th nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, New Sharon ranks 16,571 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,853 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 355 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in New Sharon
New Sharon's elevated rating (47th 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
Even with 85.4% of New Sharon 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 New Sharon's figures come from
New Sharon's 47th-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 New Sharon's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.