University of California-Santa Barbara, CA
University of California-Santa Barbara wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, University of California-Santa Barbara lands at the 66th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 605 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 University of California-Santa Barbara at the 67th percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
University of California-Santa Barbara's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of University of California-Santa Barbara's buildings (81.3% of 605) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
University of California-Santa Barbara against the rest of the country
University of California-Santa Barbara's 66th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 24th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, University of California-Santa Barbara ranks 10,862 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,758 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,202 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
University of California-Santa Barbara and the insurance market
University of California-Santa Barbara's 66th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 81.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, University of California-Santa Barbara gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where University of California-Santa Barbara's figures come from
University of California-Santa Barbara's 66th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what University of California-Santa Barbara's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.