Acton, CA
How exposed is Acton to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Acton lands at the 97th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 5,444 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Acton at the 96th national percentile — 2 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
USFS classifies 91.1% of Acton's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 9% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 4,957 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 5,444 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Acton compares
Acton ranks lower within California (80th percentile statewide) than its 97th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Acton ranks 838 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,171 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 305 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Acton and the insurance market
Acton sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 97th-percentile score like Acton's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Acton (91.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Acton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Acton's 838-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Acton's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.