Sheep Springs, NM
Sheep Springs wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sheep Springs lands at the 24th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 116 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sheep Springs's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 26th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
116 buildings are counted in Sheep Springs, and 86.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Sheep Springs ranks
Sheep Springs's 24th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 0th ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 23 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sheep Springs ranks 24,085 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,372 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 493 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
Sheep Springs's moderate wildfire rating (24th 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
With 86.2% of Sheep Springs 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 Sheep Springs's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sheep Springs's 24,085-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sheep Springs's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.