Benbow, CA
Benbow wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Benbow at the 75th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 350 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Benbow at the 76th national percentile — 0 points above 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 97.4% of Benbow's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 2.6% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 341 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Benbow against the rest of the country
Benbow's 75th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 34th 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, Benbow ranks 7,751 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,299 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,042 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Benbow
Benbow 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 75th-percentile score like Benbow's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Benbow
With 97.4% of Benbow 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.
Where Benbow's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 350 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Benbow. The exposure-zones guide covers what Benbow's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.