Newton, IA
How exposed is Newton to wildfire?
Newton's 7,936 buildings earn a 51st-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 Newton at the 53rd percentile, close to its 51st-percentile risk score.
Where Newton's buildings actually sit
Most of Newton's buildings (87.4% of 7,936) 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. At 7,936 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Newton ranks
Compare Newton's two percentiles: 70th within Iowa, only 51st nationally — a gap of 19 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Newton ranks 15,466 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,132 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 306 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Newton and the insurance market
Newton's elevated rating (51st 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 87.4% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Newton gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Newton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 7,936 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Newton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Newton's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.