Sonora, CA
Sonora wildfire risk explained
Sonora's 2,629 buildings earn a 97th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Sonora at the 96th percentile, close to its 97th-percentile risk score.
Sonora's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Sonora's buildings (65.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Sonora against the rest of the country
Sonora ranks lower within California (79th percentile statewide) than its 97th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sonora ranks 998 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,050 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 333 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Sonora and the insurance market
Because Sonora is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
What would actually reduce this score
Sonora's 65.7% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,629 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sonora. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Sonora, see the exposure-zones guide.