Your ISO fire rating and homeowners insurance

In Oregon, the fire protection where you live is graded by ISO, a company that rates communities for insurance companies. The grade, a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10, is one of the things many insurers use to price home and business insurance.

What the number means

ISO, the Insurance Services Office, part of Verisk, grades a community's fire protection on a scale from 1 to 10. In ISO's words, "Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire-suppression program doesn't meet our minimum criteria."

Most Oregon communities do well. ISO's 2026 figures show about 415 graded Oregon communities, about four in five of them at Class 5 or better, and about 3 at Class 10.

Sources: ISO, Public Protection Classification; ISO, facts and figures (counts read from ISO's 2026 Oregon chart), checked November 1, 2026.

Why it matters for your insurance

• Verisk says "virtually all U.S. insurers of homes and business property" use the class in pricing, and that fire insurance in a community with a good class "is substantially lower than in a community with a poor PPC, assuming all other factors are equal."
• Each insurance company sets its own prices. Some weigh the class heavily, some less, and some do their own risk analysis instead, so it is worth comparing quotes.
• The class is about putting out fires in buildings: the fire department, water supply and 9-1-1 dispatch. It is not a wildfire risk score, which insurers get elsewhere.

Sources: Verisk, PPC questions and answers; ISO, how PPC affects insurance policies; Hoodland Fire District, fire insurance information, checked November 1, 2026.

Your home's class can differ from your district's

Many Oregon districts have a split class, written like 4/10 or 4/4Y. Distance decides which part applies to your home:

• Within 5 road miles of a fire station and 1,000 feet of a hydrant or other approved water supply: the first number, such as 4.
• Within 5 road miles but farther from water: the X or Y part, such as 4X or 4Y.
• 5 to 7 road miles from a station, with approved water within 1,000 feet: some homes qualify for Class 10W.
• More than 5 road miles from a station: generally Class 10.

Water tenders, dry hydrants and other water sources can count as approved water when they meet ISO's rules, so ask your fire district whether its tender program is recognized.

Sources: ISO, split classifications and Class 10W, checked November 1, 2026.

How to find the class for your home

1. Ask your insurance company or agent. ISO does not give classes to the public.
2. Check your fire district's website. Many Oregon districts post their class and which part applies by distance. Fire department pages on FireDepartment.net show the district's ISO rating, with its source, when it has been published.
3. Measure the road miles from your home to the nearest fire station that responds, including stations that respond by automatic aid, and give that to your insurer if your class seems wrong.

Source: Verisk, PPC questions and answers; SW Polk Fire District, ISO rating guide, checked November 1, 2026.

What keeps a community's class good

ISO's largest single item is the people who respond to a fire, and to be rated better than Class 10 a department must send at least four firefighters to every reported structure fire. In many Oregon communities those firefighters are volunteers. Training, apparatus, water supply and 9-1-1 dispatch count too. A community that loses responders or stations can lose its class, and one that adds them can improve it.

In 2026, SW Polk Fire District said its class would improve from 5/10 to 4/10 on September 1, 2026, which it credited to its 2022 levy, and warned that staffing cuts after a later levy failed "could ultimately result in the reversal of the improved rating."

Sources: ISO, items considered and minimum criteria; SW Polk Fire District, news release, May 21, 2026, checked November 1, 2026.

Learn more

• Fire protection, funding and insurance costs: why fire department funding and insurance costs are connected.
• Volunteer with your fire department: volunteers are how many Oregon communities keep their fire protection.
• For fire departments: improving your ISO class
• ISO's organization page
• In Washington, classes come from WSRB instead: see WSRB protection class.