Piedmont, CA
Piedmont, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Piedmont lands at the 59th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 4,335 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Piedmont at the 60th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Piedmont's buildings actually sit
Most of Piedmont's buildings (91.1% of 4,335) 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.
Piedmont against the rest of the country
Piedmont's 59th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 17th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Piedmont ranks 12,911 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,952 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,304 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Piedmont and the insurance market
Because Piedmont is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Hardening a home in Piedmont
With 91.1% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Piedmont gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Piedmont's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,335 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Piedmont. The exposure-zones guide covers what Piedmont's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.