St. Benedict, IA
St. Benedict wildfire risk explained
USFS scores St. Benedict at the 4th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 50 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Benedict's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 3rd percentile nationally.
Where St. Benedict's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 56% of St. Benedict's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 44% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How St. Benedict compares
St. Benedict scores 4th nationally and 7th 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, St. Benedict ranks 30,413 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,928 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 950 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in St. Benedict
At the 4th national percentile, St. Benedict rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 56% of St. Benedict 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 50 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. Benedict. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond St. Benedict, see the exposure-zones guide.