Mendocino, CA
Mendocino wildfire risk explained
Mendocino's 963 buildings earn a 66th-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.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mendocino at the 64th percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 57.1% of Mendocino's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 42.9% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 550 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Mendocino against the rest of the country
Inside California, Mendocino sits at just the 24th percentile even though it scores 66th 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, Mendocino ranks 10,735 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,201 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,198 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Mendocino and the insurance market
Because Mendocino 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
With 57.1% of Mendocino in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Mendocino's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 963 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mendocino. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mendocino's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.