San Rafael, NM
San Rafael wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, San Rafael lands at the 76th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,156 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks San Rafael at the 71st national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
San Rafael's building exposure, zone by zone
Of San Rafael's 1,156 counted buildings, 85.1% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How San Rafael compares
Inside New Mexico, San Rafael sits at just the 48th percentile even though it scores 76th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, San Rafael ranks 7,479 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,907 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 256 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
San Rafael and the insurance market
San Rafael's high rating (76th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in San Rafael (85.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where San Rafael's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,156 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for San Rafael. The exposure-zones guide covers what San Rafael's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.