Nicasio, CA
Nicasio wildfire risk explained
Nicasio sits at the 94th 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 99 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Nicasio at the 96th percentile, close to its 94th-percentile risk score.
Where Nicasio's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 100% of Nicasio's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 99 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Nicasio against the rest of the country
Inside California, Nicasio sits at just the 71st percentile even though it scores 94th 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, Nicasio ranks 1,909 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,064 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 456 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Nicasio and the insurance market
Nicasio's 94th-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.
Hardening a home in Nicasio
With 100% of Nicasio 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 99 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Nicasio. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Nicasio, see the exposure-zones guide.