Glen Ellen, CA
Glen Ellen wildfire risk explained
Glen Ellen's 618 buildings earn a 90th-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 Glen Ellen at the 90th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Glen Ellen's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 69.3% of Glen Ellen's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 30.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 428 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Glen Ellen against the rest of the country
Glen Ellen ranks lower within California (60th percentile statewide) than its 90th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Glen Ellen ranks 3,300 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,586 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 623 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Glen Ellen
Glen Ellen's 90th-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.
Hardening a home in Glen Ellen
Glen Ellen's 69.3% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Glen Ellen's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Glen Ellen's 3,300-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Glen Ellen's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.