Sausalito, CA
Sausalito, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sausalito lands at the 81st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 3,001 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sausalito's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 80th percentile nationally.
Sausalito's building exposure, zone by zone
3,001 buildings are counted in Sausalito, and 88.3% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 11.5% in Direct exposure or the 0.2% rated Minimal.
How Sausalito compares
Sausalito ranks lower within California (42nd percentile statewide) than its 81st national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sausalito ranks 5,888 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,432 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 909 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Sausalito's 81st-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Hardening a home in Sausalito
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Sausalito (88.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sausalito's 5,888-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Sausalito, see the exposure-zones guide.