Atherton, CA
How exposed is Atherton to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Atherton lands at the 58th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 4,853 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Atherton at the 60th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Atherton's buildings actually sit
56.3% of Atherton's 4,853 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,731 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 43.6% are Minimal.
Atherton against the rest of the country
Atherton's 58th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 16th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Atherton ranks 13,258 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,522 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,321 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Atherton and the insurance market
Atherton's 58th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
What would actually reduce this score
With 56.3% of Atherton in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,853 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Atherton. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Atherton, see the exposure-zones guide.