Felton, CA
Felton wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Felton lands at the 71st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,991 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Felton at the 73rd national percentile — 2 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
1,991 buildings are counted in Felton, and 74.5% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Felton ranks
Felton's 71st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 29th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Felton ranks 9,103 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,508 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,118 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Felton and the insurance market
Felton sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 71st-percentile score like Felton's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Felton (74.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Felton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Felton's 9,103-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Felton's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.