La Union, NM
La Union, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores La Union at the 37th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 597 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks La Union at the 40th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in La Union (52.8% of 597 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 41.2% sit in the Direct zone.
La Union against the rest of the country
La Union's 37th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 6th ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 31 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, La Union ranks 19,763 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,885 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 464 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in La Union
At the 37th national percentile, La Union rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in La Union
La Union's 52.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind La Union's 19,763-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond La Union, see the exposure-zones guide.