Ruthven, IA
Ruthven wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Ruthven at the 46th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 455 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ruthven's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 41st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 20.9% of Ruthven's 455 buildings carry Direct exposure and 3.3% carry Indirect; the remaining 75.8% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Ruthven against the rest of the country
Compare Ruthven'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, Ruthven ranks 16,924 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,171 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 377 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Ruthven and the insurance market
Ruthven's elevated rating (46th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Ruthven
Even with 75.8% of Ruthven 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 Ruthven's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Ruthven's 16,924-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ruthven's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.