El Sobrante (Contra Costa), CA
El Sobrante (Contra Costa) wildfire risk explained
El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s 5,537 buildings earn a 84th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks El Sobrante (Contra Costa) at the 86th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
63.1% of El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s 5,537 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 13.3% Direct and 23.6% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 5,537 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How El Sobrante (Contra Costa) compares
El Sobrante (Contra Costa) ranks lower within California (48th percentile statewide) than its 84th 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 Sobrante (Contra Costa) ranks 4,906 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,112 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 807 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
El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s 84th-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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in El Sobrante (Contra Costa) (63.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s figures come from
El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s 84th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what El Sobrante (Contra Costa)'s dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.