Madison, CA
How exposed is Madison to wildfire?
Madison's 243 buildings earn a 67th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Madison at the 66th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Madison's buildings (93.4%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Madison compares
Madison ranks lower within California (25th percentile statewide) than its 67th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Madison ranks 10,265 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,352 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,184 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Madison and the insurance market
Because Madison is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 93.4% of Madison's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Madison's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 243 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Madison. The exposure-zones guide covers what Madison's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.