Ladera Heights, CA
Ladera Heights, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ladera Heights lands at the 51st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,643 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ladera Heights's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 54th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Ladera Heights's buildings (97.8% of 2,643) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Ladera Heights against the rest of the country
Inside California, Ladera Heights sits at just the 12th percentile even though it scores 51st nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ladera Heights ranks 15,306 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,030 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,386 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Ladera Heights and the insurance market
Ladera Heights's 51st-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Hardening a home in Ladera Heights
Even with 97.8% of Ladera Heights outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Ladera Heights's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,643 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ladera Heights. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ladera Heights's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.