Moss Beach, CA
How exposed is Moss Beach to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Moss Beach at the 76th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,442 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Moss Beach's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 74th percentile nationally.
Moss Beach's building exposure, zone by zone
82.7% of Moss Beach's 1,442 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 17% Direct and 0.4% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Moss Beach ranks
Moss Beach's 76th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 35th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 41 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Moss Beach ranks 7,463 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,417 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,019 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
Moss Beach's 76th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Moss Beach (82.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Moss Beach's figures come from
Moss Beach'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 Moss Beach's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.