El Cerro Mission, NM
El Cerro Mission wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts El Cerro Mission at the 58th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 2,275 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 El Cerro Mission at the 58th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 90.7% of El Cerro Mission's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 9.3% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 2,063 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
El Cerro Mission against the rest of the country
El Cerro Mission ranks lower within New Mexico (28th percentile statewide) than its 58th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, El Cerro Mission ranks 13,121 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,760 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 358 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
El Cerro Mission and the insurance market
El Cerro Mission's elevated wildfire rating (58th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in El Cerro Mission
With 90.7% of El Cerro Mission in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where El Cerro Mission's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind El Cerro Mission's 13,121-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what El Cerro Mission's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.