Fairfax (Marin), CA
Fairfax (Marin) wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Fairfax (Marin) at the 89th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 3,016 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 Fairfax (Marin) at the 90th percentile, close to its 89th-percentile risk score.
Fairfax (Marin)'s building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 53.2% of Fairfax (Marin)'s 3,016 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 46.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Fairfax (Marin) ranks
Fairfax (Marin)'s 89th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 60th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 30 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairfax (Marin) ranks 3,363 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,407 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 634 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
Because Fairfax (Marin) 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in Fairfax (Marin) (53.2% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,016 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Fairfax (Marin). For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Fairfax (Marin), see the exposure-zones guide.