Maricopa, CA
Maricopa, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Maricopa sits at the 60th 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 613 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Maricopa at the 62nd national percentile — 1 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
USFS puts 91.7% of Maricopa's 613 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 5.2% Direct and 3.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Maricopa compares
Maricopa ranks lower within California (18th percentile statewide) than its 60th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Maricopa ranks 12,535 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,652 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,285 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Maricopa
Because Maricopa 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.
Hardening a home in Maricopa
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Maricopa (91.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Maricopa's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Maricopa's 12,535-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Maricopa's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.