Squaw Valley, CA
Squaw Valley wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Squaw Valley lands at the 96th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 3,024 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Squaw Valley at the 96th percentile, close to its 96th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Squaw Valley's 3,024 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Squaw Valley ranks
Squaw Valley ranks lower within California (77th percentile statewide) than its 96th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Squaw Valley ranks 1,160 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,390 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 358 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Squaw Valley and the insurance market
Because Squaw Valley 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Squaw Valley (100%), 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 3,024 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Squaw Valley. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Squaw Valley, see the exposure-zones guide.