Murphys, CA
Murphys, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Murphys at the 99th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 1,716 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Murphys's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 99th percentile nationally.
Murphys's building exposure, zone by zone
1,716 buildings are counted in Murphys, and 57.5% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How Murphys compares
There's little gap between Murphys's 99th national percentile and its 93rd percentile inside California, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Murphys ranks 189 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,362 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 110 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
Murphys 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 99th-percentile score like Murphys's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Murphys
With 57.5% of Murphys 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,716 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Murphys. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Murphys, see the exposure-zones guide.