Sandia Knolls, NM
How exposed is Sandia Knolls to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sandia Knolls lands at the 91st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 722 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sandia Knolls's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 89th percentile nationally.
Sandia Knolls's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Sandia Knolls: 86.8% of its 722 buildings, versus 13.2% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Sandia Knolls compares
Sandia Knolls's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Mexico (78th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (91st) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sandia Knolls ranks 2,738 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,425 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 108 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sandia Knolls
Sandia Knolls's very high rating (91st 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.
Hardening a home in Sandia Knolls
With 86.8% of Sandia Knolls 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.
Where Sandia Knolls's figures come from
Sandia Knolls's 91st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sandia Knolls's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.