Winterset, IA
Winterset wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Winterset lands at the 60th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,772 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Winterset at the 61st national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 10.3% of Winterset's 2,772 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0.4% carry Indirect; the remaining 89.4% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Where Winterset ranks
Winterset's 83rd-percentile standing inside Iowa outpaces its 60th 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, Winterset ranks 12,696 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,820 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 173 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
Winterset's elevated wildfire rating (60th 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
Even with 89.4% of Winterset 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.
Where Winterset's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,772 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Winterset. The exposure-zones guide covers what Winterset's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.