Catheys Valley, CA
How exposed is Catheys Valley to wildfire?
Catheys Valley's 767 buildings earn a 95th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Catheys Valley at the 95th percentile, close to its 95th-percentile risk score.
Catheys Valley's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Catheys Valley's 767 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Catheys Valley compares
Catheys Valley ranks lower within California (74th percentile statewide) than its 95th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Catheys Valley ranks 1,628 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,940 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 416 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Catheys Valley
Catheys Valley 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 95th-percentile score like Catheys Valley's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Catheys Valley
Because Direct exposure dominates in Catheys Valley (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Catheys Valley's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Catheys Valley's 1,628-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Catheys Valley's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.