San Ardo, CA
San Ardo, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts San Ardo at the 87th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 218 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, San Ardo's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 89th percentile nationally.
San Ardo's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of San Ardo's buildings (94.5%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How San Ardo compares
San Ardo ranks lower within California (55th percentile statewide) than its 87th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, San Ardo ranks 4,026 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,184 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 704 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
San Ardo 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 87th-percentile score like San Ardo's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
San Ardo's 94.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where San Ardo's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 218 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for San Ardo. The exposure-zones guide covers what San Ardo's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.