Villanueva, NM
How exposed is Villanueva to wildfire?
Villanueva sits at the 85th 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 222 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Villanueva's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 78th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Villanueva: 87.8% of its 222 buildings, versus 12.2% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Villanueva ranks
Villanueva's 85th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 63rd ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 22 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Villanueva ranks 4,706 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,057 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 183 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Villanueva and the insurance market
Villanueva's 85th-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.
Hardening a home in Villanueva
With 87.8% of Villanueva in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Villanueva's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 222 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Villanueva. The exposure-zones guide covers what Villanueva's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.