La Cienega, NM
La Cienega wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts La Cienega at the 73rd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 2,150 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks La Cienega at the 69th national percentile — 4 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
Of La Cienega's 2,150 counted buildings, 98.2% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where La Cienega ranks
La Cienega's 73rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 44th ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 29 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, La Cienega ranks 8,573 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,073 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 279 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
La Cienega and the insurance market
At the 73rd percentile nationally, La Cienega carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 98.2% of La Cienega in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,150 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for La Cienega. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond La Cienega, see the exposure-zones guide.