Panama, IA
Panama, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Panama at the 30th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 172 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Panama at the 27th percentile, close to its 30th-percentile risk score.
Where Panama's buildings actually sit
Only 8.7% of Panama's 172 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 91.3% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Panama compares
Panama scores 30th nationally and 44th 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, Panama ranks 22,216 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,936 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 568 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 30th national percentile, Panama rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Panama
With 91.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Panama gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Panama's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Panama's 22,216-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Panama's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.