WildfireRiskFinder

Breckenridge, CO

Breckenridge wildfire risk explained

Elevated
49thpercentile nationally

Out of every US place USFS scores, Breckenridge lands at the 49th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 3,230 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)

USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Breckenridge at the 46th percentile, close to its 49th-percentile risk score.

Breckenridge's building exposure, zone by zone

3,230Total buildings
38.3%Direct exposure
61.7%Indirect exposure
0%Minimal exposure

Indirect exposure is dominant in Breckenridge (61.7% of 3,230 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 38.3% sit in the Direct zone.

How Breckenridge compares

Breckenridge's 49th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 16th ranking inside Colorado does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 33 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Breckenridge ranks 16,157 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,129 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 397 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.

Breckenridge and the insurance market

At the 49th national percentile, Breckenridge rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.

What would actually reduce this score

Breckenridge's 61.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.

More on how this number was built

Breckenridge's 49th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Breckenridge, see the exposure-zones guide.