Buellton, CA
Buellton wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Buellton at the 91st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 2,029 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Buellton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
Buellton's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Buellton (90.5% of 2,029 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 9.5% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Buellton ranks
Buellton's 91st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 63rd ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 28 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buellton ranks 2,983 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,385 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 587 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 Buellton 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Buellton (90.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Buellton's 2,983-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Buellton, see the exposure-zones guide.