Shenandoah, IA
Shenandoah, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Shenandoah sits at the 41st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,972 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Shenandoah at the 40th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Shenandoah's building exposure, zone by zone
90.1% of Shenandoah's 2,972 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 9.9% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Shenandoah compares
Compare Shenandoah's two percentiles: 56th within Iowa, only 41st nationally — a gap of 15 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Shenandoah ranks 18,587 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,480 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 443 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
Shenandoah's elevated wildfire rating (41st 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 90.1% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Shenandoah gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Shenandoah's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,972 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Shenandoah. The exposure-zones guide covers what Shenandoah's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.