Santa Teresa, NM
Santa Teresa wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Santa Teresa lands at the 37th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 1,539 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Santa Teresa's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 40th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
84.1% of Santa Teresa's 1,539 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 15.9% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Santa Teresa ranks
Santa Teresa's 37th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 6th ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 31 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Santa Teresa ranks 19,794 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,987 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 465 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Santa Teresa's moderate wildfire rating (37th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Santa Teresa's 84.1% 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.
More on how this number was built
Santa Teresa's 37th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Santa Teresa, see the exposure-zones guide.