Ruidoso, NM
Ruidoso, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Ruidoso at the 99th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 7,335 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ruidoso at the 99th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Ruidoso's building exposure, zone by zone
62.5% of Ruidoso's 7,335 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 4,584 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 37.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal. At 7,335 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Ruidoso ranks
Ruidoso scores 99th nationally and 98th within New Mexico — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ruidoso ranks 200 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,326 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 10 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Ruidoso and the insurance market
At the 99th percentile nationally, Ruidoso carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Ruidoso
With 62.5% of Ruidoso 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
Ruidoso's 99th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ruidoso, see the exposure-zones guide.