Oildale, CA
How exposed is Oildale to wildfire?
USFS scores Oildale at the 76th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 14,537 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oildale's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 77th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Oildale (57.2% of 14,537 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 1.9% sit in the Direct zone. At 14,537 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Oildale compares
Oildale ranks lower within California (34th percentile statewide) than its 76th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oildale ranks 7,623 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,032 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,033 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
Oildale'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 Oildale (57.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 14,537 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Oildale. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Oildale, see the exposure-zones guide.