Socorro, NM
Socorro, NM's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Socorro's 5,180 buildings earn a 72nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Socorro's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 70th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
38.8% of Socorro's 5,180 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 23.8% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself. At 5,180 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Socorro against the rest of the country
Socorro ranks lower within New Mexico (42nd percentile statewide) than its 72nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Socorro ranks 8,923 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,323 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 288 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Socorro and the insurance market
Socorro's 72nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 38.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Socorro gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Socorro's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 5,180 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Socorro. The exposure-zones guide covers what Socorro's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.