Superior, IA
Superior, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Superior at the 52nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 125 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Superior at the 49th percentile, close to its 52nd-percentile risk score.
Where Superior's buildings actually sit
70.4% of Superior's 125 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 29.6% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Superior compares
Superior's 72nd-percentile standing inside Iowa outpaces its 52nd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Superior ranks 14,995 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,937 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 286 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Superior
Superior's elevated rating (52nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 70.4% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Superior gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Superior's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 125 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Superior. The exposure-zones guide covers what Superior's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.