Mono Vista, CA
Mono Vista, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Mono Vista sits at the 98th 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 1,904 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Mono Vista's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 98th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
86.5% of Mono Vista's 1,904 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,646 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 13.6% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Mono Vista ranks
Mono Vista's risk sits at a similar level relative to California (85th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (98th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mono Vista ranks 533 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,751 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 234 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Mono Vista and the insurance market
Mono Vista 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 98th-percentile score like Mono Vista's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Mono Vista's 86.5% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Mono Vista's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,904 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mono Vista. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mono Vista's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.