Lake San Marcos, CA
Lake San Marcos, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Lake San Marcos sits at the 79th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,102 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Lake San Marcos at the 75th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Lake San Marcos's buildings actually sit
88.8% of Lake San Marcos's 2,102 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 11.2% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Lake San Marcos against the rest of the country
Lake San Marcos's 79th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 39th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 40 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake San Marcos ranks 6,646 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,184 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 966 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
Lake San Marcos's 79th-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.
What would actually reduce this score
Lake San Marcos's 88.8% 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.
Where Lake San Marcos's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,102 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lake San Marcos. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lake San Marcos's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.