Bolinas, CA
Bolinas, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Bolinas at the 89th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 1,251 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bolinas's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
56.7% of Bolinas's 1,251 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 709 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 43.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.2% are Minimal.
How Bolinas compares
Bolinas ranks lower within California (59th percentile statewide) than its 89th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bolinas ranks 3,489 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,344 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 648 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because Bolinas is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
What would actually reduce this score
Bolinas's 56.7% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Bolinas's figures come from
Bolinas's 89th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bolinas's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.