Southwest Ranches, FL
Southwest Ranches, FL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Southwest Ranches sits at the 99th 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 4,981 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Southwest Ranches's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 99th percentile nationally.
Southwest Ranches's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 87.8% of Southwest Ranches's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0.4% Indirect share and far above its 11.8% Minimal share — a profile where 4,375 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Southwest Ranches against the rest of the country
Southwest Ranches scores 99th nationally and 100th within Florida — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Southwest Ranches ranks 228 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,438 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 6 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Southwest Ranches and the insurance market
Southwest Ranches's 99th-percentile, very 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Southwest Ranches (87.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,981 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Southwest Ranches. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Southwest Ranches, see the exposure-zones guide.