La Cresta, CA
La Cresta, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts La Cresta at the 66th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 3,435 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts La Cresta at the 67th percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
La Cresta's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in La Cresta (64.2% of 3,435 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 0.2% sit in the Direct zone.
La Cresta against the rest of the country
La Cresta ranks lower within California (24th percentile statewide) than its 66th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, La Cresta ranks 10,579 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,862 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,194 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 La Cresta 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in La Cresta (64.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where La Cresta's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,435 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for La Cresta. The exposure-zones guide covers what La Cresta's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.