Underwood, IA
How exposed is Underwood to wildfire?
USFS scores Underwood at the 38th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 456 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Underwood's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 36th percentile nationally.
Where Underwood's buildings actually sit
93.9% of Underwood's 456 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 6.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Underwood against the rest of the country
Compare Underwood's two percentiles: 53rd within Iowa, only 38th nationally — a gap of 15 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Underwood ranks 19,660 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,153 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 481 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Underwood
At the 38th national percentile, Underwood rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 93.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Underwood gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Underwood's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Underwood's 19,660-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Underwood's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.