Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, CA
How exposed is Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley at the 73rd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,782 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley at the 75th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's buildings actually sit
82.2% of Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's 1,782 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,464 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 17.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley ranks
Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley ranks lower within California (31st percentile statewide) than its 73rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley ranks 8,533 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,116 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,088 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley
Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley 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 73rd-percentile score like Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley (82.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's 8,533-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.