WildfireRiskFinder

How much wildfire risk does my community have?

31,521 US communities. Start typing.

The US Forest Service scores wildfire risk for every US community from the buildings actually there, not just how much vegetation surrounds them. This shows you that score, free, for 31,000+ communities.

Highest wildfire risk in the US, by community

Ranked by USFS's national risk percentile — fire likelihood, intensity and the buildings actually there, combined into one score per place.

RankCommunityStatePercentileRating
1 Anza, CA CA 100th Very High
2 Campo, CA CA 100th Very High
3 Descanso, CA CA 100th Very High
4 Douglas City, CA CA 100th Very High
5 Downieville, CA CA 100th Very High
6 Goodyears Bar, CA CA 100th Very High
7 Green Valley (Los Angeles), CA CA 100th Very High
8 Pine Valley, CA CA 100th Very High
9 Potrero, CA CA 100th Very High
10 Elk City, ID ID 100th Very High

Read this before you rely on it

This is a community-level figure. USFS scores the buildings across a whole named place, not one address. It's the same grain an insurer's underwriting model starts from, but it is not a substitute for a parcel-specific wildfire inspection if you're buying a specific house.

What it's good for is the question before that one: does this place carry more or less wildfire risk than the rest of the country, and how many of its buildings actually sit in burnable vegetation versus just nearby.

What the three exposure zones mean

  • Direct exposure — the building sits close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact itself, not just embers. Lot clearing and defensible space matter most here.
  • Indirect exposure — far enough from vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers to reach. Vent screens and roofing material matter more than lot clearing alone.
  • Minimal exposure — outside both zones. Risk here is landscape-level rather than building-by-building.
Browse all 31,521 communities by state

The question this site answers

"How much wildfire risk does this place actually have" doesn't have one national answer. The US Forest Service scores it place by place, using the buildings actually there, not just how much vegetation surrounds them. WildfireRiskFinder reports that score for 31,521 US communities covering 89,645,441 buildings across 50 states, straight from USFS's own Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset, no averages standing in for a real number.

A building-exposure figure, not just a hazard map

Two places can share the same regional fire likelihood and still carry very different risk, depending on whether their buildings actually sit in burnable vegetation. This site reports both: USFS's national risk percentile (fire likelihood, intensity and what's built there, combined) and the share of each place's buildings in Direct, Indirect or Minimal exposure zones.

Written for the decision, not for alarm

Every page here cites its USFS source directly and reports what the data says without dressing it up. No place is described as doomed, and no place is described as safe. The goal is the same number an insurer or a lender already has access to, in plain language, so you can shop or plan with it.

Start with your community

Search or browse to your community to see its national wildfire-risk percentile, which exposure zone most of its buildings fall into, and how it compares to the rest of its state.