Nelson, AZ
How exposed is Nelson to wildfire?
Nelson sits at the 79th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 155 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Nelson at the 81st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Nelson's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Nelson: 100% of its 155 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Nelson compares
Inside Arizona, Nelson sits at just the 43rd percentile even though it scores 79th 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, Nelson ranks 6,511 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,642 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arizona alone, it ranks 251 of 441 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arizona on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Nelson's 79th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With 100% of Nelson 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 155 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Nelson. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Nelson, see the exposure-zones guide.