Popejoy, IA
Popejoy, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Popejoy at the 16th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 88 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Popejoy's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 14th percentile nationally.
Popejoy's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 18.2% of Popejoy's 88 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 81.8% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Where Popejoy ranks
Popejoy scores 16th nationally and 25th 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, Popejoy ranks 26,626 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,574 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 759 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
Popejoy's low wildfire rating (16th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 81.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Popejoy gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 88 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Popejoy. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Popejoy, see the exposure-zones guide.