Wheatland, CA
How exposed is Wheatland to wildfire?
USFS scores Wheatland at the 90th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 1,394 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wheatland at the 91st percentile, close to its 90th-percentile risk score.
Wheatland's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Wheatland (87.7% of 1,394 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 12.3% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Wheatland ranks
Wheatland ranks lower within California (61st percentile statewide) than its 90th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wheatland ranks 3,304 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,654 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 627 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Wheatland's 90th-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.
Hardening a home in Wheatland
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Wheatland (87.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Wheatland's 3,304-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Wheatland, see the exposure-zones guide.