Chester, CA
Chester, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Chester sits at the 92nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,667 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Chester's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Chester's buildings (79.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Chester against the rest of the country
Chester's 92nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 67th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 25 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chester ranks 2,385 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,532 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 514 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
Chester's 92nd-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Chester's 79.7% 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.
Where Chester's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Chester's 2,385-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Chester's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.