La Cueva (Sandoval), NM
How exposed is La Cueva (Sandoval) to wildfire?
USFS scores La Cueva (Sandoval) at the 99th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 210 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, La Cueva (Sandoval)'s burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 98th percentile nationally.
La Cueva (Sandoval)'s building exposure, zone by zone
Of La Cueva (Sandoval)'s 210 counted buildings, 100% 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.
How La Cueva (Sandoval) compares
La Cueva (Sandoval) scores 99th nationally and 97th within New Mexico — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, La Cueva (Sandoval) ranks 262 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,487 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 14 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
La Cueva (Sandoval)'s 99th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in La Cueva (Sandoval)
Because Direct exposure dominates in La Cueva (Sandoval) (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where La Cueva (Sandoval)'s figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 210 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for La Cueva (Sandoval). The exposure-zones guide covers what La Cueva (Sandoval)'s dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.