Clayton, CA
Clayton wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Clayton at the 97th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 4,339 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Clayton at the 97th percentile, close to its 97th-percentile risk score.
Clayton's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Clayton (89.9% of 4,339 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 10.1% sit in the Direct zone.
Clayton against the rest of the country
Clayton ranks lower within California (80th percentile statewide) than its 97th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clayton ranks 906 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,943 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 319 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
Clayton 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 97th-percentile score like Clayton's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 89.9% of Clayton's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Clayton's 97th-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 Clayton, see the exposure-zones guide.