Happy Valley, NM
How exposed is Happy Valley to wildfire?
USFS scores Happy Valley at the 57th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 496 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Happy Valley's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 60th percentile nationally.
Where Happy Valley's buildings actually sit
496 buildings are counted in Happy Valley, and 72% 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 Happy Valley ranks
Happy Valley ranks lower within New Mexico (26th percentile statewide) than its 57th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Happy Valley ranks 13,430 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,425 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 365 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Happy Valley and the insurance market
Happy Valley's elevated wildfire rating (57th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Happy Valley
Happy Valley's 72% 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Happy Valley's 13,430-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Happy Valley, see the exposure-zones guide.