Rock Valley, IA
How exposed is Rock Valley to wildfire?
USFS scores Rock Valley at the 46th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,918 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rock Valley's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 43rd percentile nationally.
Rock Valley's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Rock Valley's buildings (80.5% of 1,918) 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.
Where Rock Valley ranks
Compare Rock Valley's two percentiles: 63rd within Iowa, only 46th nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rock Valley ranks 16,953 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,713 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 379 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Rock Valley
Rock Valley's elevated wildfire rating (46th 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
Rock Valley's 80.5% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Rock Valley's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Rock Valley's 16,953-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rock Valley's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.