Escalon, CA
Escalon wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Escalon at the 87th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 2,985 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Escalon at the 88th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Escalon's buildings actually sit
Most of Escalon's buildings (55.9% of 2,985) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Where Escalon ranks
Escalon ranks lower within California (55th percentile statewide) than its 87th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Escalon ranks 4,119 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,460 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 713 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Escalon and the insurance market
Because Escalon is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 55.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Escalon gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,985 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Escalon. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Escalon, see the exposure-zones guide.