Vinton, IA
How exposed is Vinton to wildfire?
Vinton sits at the 48th 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 2,988 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Vinton at the 49th percentile, close to its 48th-percentile risk score.
Where Vinton's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 81.8% of Vinton's 2,988 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 7.7% Direct and 10.5% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Vinton against the rest of the country
Compare Vinton's two percentiles: 66th within Iowa, only 48th nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Vinton ranks 16,323 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,455 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 342 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
Vinton's elevated wildfire rating (48th 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in Vinton (81.8% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Vinton's 48th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Vinton, see the exposure-zones guide.