Yorktown, IA
Yorktown wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Yorktown at the 47th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 76 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Yorktown at the 47th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
76 buildings are counted in Yorktown, and 63.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 36.8% rated Minimal.
Where Yorktown ranks
Compare Yorktown's two percentiles: 64th within Iowa, only 47th nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Yorktown ranks 16,762 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,046 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 370 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
Yorktown's elevated wildfire rating (47th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Yorktown (63.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Yorktown's figures come from
Yorktown's 47th-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 Yorktown's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.