La Plata, NM
La Plata, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores La Plata at the 61st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,596 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, La Plata's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 60th percentile nationally.
La Plata's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in La Plata: 94.6% of its 1,596 buildings, versus 5.4% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
La Plata against the rest of the country
La Plata ranks lower within New Mexico (31st percentile statewide) than its 61st 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 Plata ranks 12,396 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,783 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 342 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in La Plata
La Plata's 61st-percentile, 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 Plata
La Plata's 94.6% 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.
Where La Plata's figures come from
La Plata's 61st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what La Plata's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.