Glendale, CA
Glendale, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Glendale at the 98th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 46,127 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Glendale at the 95th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Glendale (64.1% of 46,127 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 5.6% sit in the Direct zone. At 46,127 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Glendale against the rest of the country
Glendale ranks lower within California (81st percentile statewide) than its 98th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Glendale ranks 776 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 200 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 298 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Glendale
Because Glendale 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
Because 64.1% of Glendale's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Glendale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 46,127 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Glendale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Glendale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.