El Rancho, NM
El Rancho, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores El Rancho at the 79th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 769 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (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 Rancho at the 77th percentile, close to its 79th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in El Rancho: 89.5% of its 769 buildings, versus 10.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
El Rancho against the rest of the country
El Rancho ranks lower within New Mexico (52nd percentile statewide) than its 79th 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 Rancho ranks 6,497 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,926 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 240 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
El Rancho and the insurance market
At the 79th percentile nationally, El Rancho carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 89.5% of El Rancho 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 Rancho's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind El Rancho's 6,497-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what El Rancho's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.