Clifton, AZ
How exposed is Clifton to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Clifton lands at the 77th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,877 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Clifton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
Clifton's building exposure, zone by zone
1,877 buildings are counted in Clifton, and 84.9% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 15.1% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Clifton compares
Clifton's 77th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 38th ranking inside Arizona does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 39 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clifton ranks 7,365 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,829 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arizona alone, it ranks 275 of 441 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arizona on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Clifton's high rating (77th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Clifton
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Clifton (84.9% 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 Clifton's 7,365-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Clifton, see the exposure-zones guide.