Woodside, CA
Woodside wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Woodside at the 71st national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 4,165 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Woodside at the 72nd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Woodside's buildings actually sit
85.6% of Woodside's 4,165 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 3,566 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 10.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 3.7% are Minimal.
Where Woodside ranks
Woodside ranks lower within California (29th percentile statewide) than its 71st national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Woodside ranks 9,132 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,085 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,121 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Woodside
Woodside's 71st-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 85.6% of Woodside 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.
More on how this number was built
Woodside's 71st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Woodside, see the exposure-zones guide.