Lakewood, CO
How exposed is Lakewood to wildfire?
Lakewood sits at the 89th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 47,367 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Lakewood at the 88th percentile, close to its 89th-percentile risk score.
Where Lakewood's buildings actually sit
Only 6.2% of Lakewood's 47,367 buildings carry Direct exposure and 22.7% carry Indirect; the remaining 71.1% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure. At 47,367 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Lakewood compares
Lakewood ranks lower within Colorado (72nd percentile statewide) than its 89th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lakewood ranks 3,493 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 189 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 130 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 89th percentile nationally, Lakewood carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Lakewood
With 71.1% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Lakewood gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Lakewood's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 47,367 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lakewood. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lakewood's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.