Washington, IA
Washington wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Washington lands at the 44th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 4,102 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Washington at the 45th percentile, close to its 44th-percentile risk score.
Where Washington's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 95.5% of Washington's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 4.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Washington compares
Within Iowa, Washington ranks higher (60th percentile) than it does nationally (44th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Washington ranks 17,610 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,139 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 402 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
At the 44th national percentile, Washington rates elevated 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
Washington's 95.5% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Washington's figures come from
Washington's 44th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Washington's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.