Penryn, CA
Penryn wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Penryn lands at the 91st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 655 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Penryn at the 91st national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Penryn: 83.8% of its 655 buildings, versus 10.8% Indirect and 5.3% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Penryn compares
Penryn ranks lower within California (63rd percentile statewide) than its 91st national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Penryn ranks 2,888 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,126 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 578 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Penryn
Penryn 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 91st-percentile score like Penryn's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Penryn (83.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 655 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Penryn. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Penryn, see the exposure-zones guide.