Kennedy Meadows, CA
Kennedy Meadows, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kennedy Meadows lands at the 99th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 194 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 Kennedy Meadows at the 99th percentile, close to its 99th-percentile risk score.
Kennedy Meadows's building exposure, zone by zone
97.4% of Kennedy Meadows's 194 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 189 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 2.6% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Kennedy Meadows against the rest of the country
Kennedy Meadows scores 99th nationally and 91st within California — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kennedy Meadows ranks 246 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,054 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 137 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because Kennedy Meadows 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.
Hardening a home in Kennedy Meadows
Kennedy Meadows's 97.4% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 194 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Kennedy Meadows. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Kennedy Meadows, see the exposure-zones guide.