Santa Ynez, CA
Santa Ynez, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Santa Ynez sits at the 85th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,756 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Santa Ynez's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 87th percentile nationally.
Santa Ynez's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Santa Ynez: 62.6% of its 2,756 buildings, versus 36.2% Indirect and 1.2% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Santa Ynez against the rest of the country
Santa Ynez's 85th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 51st ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 35 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Santa Ynez ranks 4,623 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,839 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 774 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Santa Ynez
Santa Ynez 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 85th-percentile score like Santa Ynez's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
With 62.6% of Santa Ynez 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,756 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Santa Ynez. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Santa Ynez, see the exposure-zones guide.