San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
San Jose's 246,588 buildings earn a 94th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, San Jose's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of San Jose's buildings (76% of 246,588) 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. At 246,588 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How San Jose compares
San Jose ranks lower within California (70th percentile statewide) than its 94th 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 Jose ranks 2,037 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 476 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
San Jose and the insurance market
San Jose 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 94th-percentile score like San Jose's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 76% of San Jose outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
San Jose's 94th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond San Jose, see the exposure-zones guide.