Galisteo, NM
Galisteo wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Galisteo lands at the 83rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 257 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Galisteo at the 81st percentile, close to its 83rd-percentile risk score.
Galisteo's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 100% of Galisteo's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 257 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Galisteo compares
Inside New Mexico, Galisteo sits at just the 59th percentile even though it scores 83rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Galisteo ranks 5,330 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,919 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 206 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Galisteo
Galisteo's 83rd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Galisteo (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Galisteo's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Galisteo's 5,330-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Galisteo's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.