Mojave, CA
How exposed is Mojave to wildfire?
Mojave's 2,452 buildings earn a 76th-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 Mojave at the 73rd percentile, close to its 76th-percentile risk score.
Mojave's building exposure, zone by zone
2,452 buildings are counted in Mojave, and 53.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 46.5% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Mojave compares
Mojave's 76th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 34th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mojave ranks 7,714 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,389 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,041 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
Mojave sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 76th-percentile score like Mojave's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Mojave (53.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Mojave's figures come from
Mojave's 76th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mojave's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.