North Valley, NM
North Valley, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts North Valley at the 43rd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 7,375 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks North Valley at the 41st national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
North Valley's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of North Valley's buildings (64.2% of 7,375) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 7,375 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
North Valley against the rest of the country
North Valley ranks lower within New Mexico (10th percentile statewide) than its 43rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Valley ranks 17,846 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,313 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 448 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
North Valley and the insurance market
North Valley's elevated rating (43rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With 64.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, North Valley gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where North Valley's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 7,375 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for North Valley. The exposure-zones guide covers what North Valley's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.