Hillsborough, CA
How exposed is Hillsborough to wildfire?
Hillsborough's 4,967 buildings earn a 57th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hillsborough's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 58th percentile nationally.
Hillsborough's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 40.3% of Hillsborough's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 21.9% Indirect share and far above its 37.8% Minimal share — a profile where 1,999 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Hillsborough compares
Hillsborough's 57th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 15th 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, Hillsborough ranks 13,607 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,450 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,334 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hillsborough
Hillsborough 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 57th-percentile score like Hillsborough's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Hillsborough (40.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Hillsborough's 57th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Hillsborough, see the exposure-zones guide.