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Sacramento County, California

Wildfire risk in Sacramento County: where it is highest, and why

Wildfire risk in Sacramento County varies by location, but most places we scored sit in the lower-to-middle part of the range. Countywide, the scored range runs from 18.3 in Elk Grove to 65.3 in Rancho Murieta, with a midpoint of 26.3.

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Sacramento County — the largest fires on record, at their perimeter centres, with the county’s main communities. Select a marker for its detail.
At a glance

Half of Sacramento County scores Moderate or worse

We scored 160 points across Sacramento County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 11% of them come out High, while 43% are Low. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.

High 11% · 18 of 160 points Moderate 46% · 73 of 160 points Low 43% · 69 of 160 points
Safest end we measured 18.3 near Elk Grove · Low
Middle of the county 26.3 Moderate — half of Sacramento County is above this
Most exposed end we measured 65.3 near Rancho Murieta · High

And the federal models agree it is a fire county

Relatively Moderate FEMA National Risk Index — wildfire risk rating · index score 95.9 / 100
$4.8M / yr FEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively Moderate
0.26% USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 0.55%
2.28 ft USFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 68% of the county carries burnable fuel

FEMA NRI also rates Sacramento County: all-hazards risk Relatively High · social vulnerability Relatively Low · community resilience Relatively Moderate · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0034.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (Dec 2025), county record · USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0, mean of the grid cells inside the county. Both describe the county as a whole, never an address in it.

What does your Sacramento County address score?

A county range shows the spread. Your parcel sits somewhere inside it — the report says where, and what to do about it.

Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan

Local context

What the data says about Sacramento County

Looking at the county’s risk tiers, most scored points fall in Moderate (73) and Low (69). Another 18 points are in High, and none are in Very High.

For countywide context, FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Sacramento County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate. FEMA also rates the county’s all-hazards risk as Relatively High.

Fire record

Where the fires actually were

Since 1984, recorded fire perimeters in Sacramento County total 11,278 acres, and 1.8% of the county has burned in that period. The county has had 41 fire perimeters since 1984.

The largest fire named for this county is Latrobe (2017), at 1,268 acres. The most recent large fire is also Latrobe (2017).

In the county fire list, Meiss (1981) is shown at 14,126 acres, and Scott (1996) at 8,828 acres; Scott is listed as partly in Sacramento County.

41 mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984
11,278 acres inside those perimeters since 1984
1.8% of the county's area, as a share of 2,560.3 km²
Latrobe 2017 most recent large fire on record
Named fires on record
  • Meiss Fire198114,126 acres
  • Scott Fire19968,828 acres in totalcrossed into the county
  • Latrobe Fire20171,268 acres
  • Clay Fire2020726 acres
  • Meiss Fire2020506 acres
  • Smud #1 Fire19921,179 acres
  • Scott Fire2004609 acres
  • Chance Ranch Vmp Fire2006560 acres

Perimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · WFIGS Interagency Perimeters · largest on record: Latrobe 2017. Perimeters are simplified for display; acreage is the figure the source records.

Communities

Where in the county you are matters most

Sacramento, the largest city listed here (490,712 people), has a community median wildfire-risk score of 18.3. Elk Grove, the next largest listed city (166,913 people), is at 25.2.

Among smaller places, Rancho Murieta stands out at 52.0, while Rio Linda is 23.4 and Walnut Grove is 24.8.

These are community-level medians, so they describe the general pattern around each place, not every individual property on every street.

Rancho Murieta village
52 High
Rancho Cordova town · 59,921 people
28.8 Moderate
Galt town · 23,396 people
25.8 Moderate
Folsom city · 66,123 people
25.3 Moderate
Elk Grove city · 166,913 people
25.2 Moderate
Walnut Grove village
24.8 Low
Rio Linda village
23.4 Low
Isleton village · 803 people
21.7 Low
Citrus Heights town · 88,890 people
18.4 Low
Sacramento city · 490,712 people
18.3 Low

The score is the median of the sampled points nearest that community — a community-scale indicator, not a score for any individual property in it. Population comes from the community's own record where the source carries one.

Terrain & fuels

Terrain, vegetation and fuels

Terrain-related exposure is lower in flatter areas and higher near Rancho Murieta. Terrain scores run from 5.0 near Isleton to 40.0 in Rancho Murieta, with a midpoint of 20.0.

Vegetation and fuels show a wider climb: 20.0 in Elk Grove and up to 73.1 in Rancho Murieta, with a midpoint of 43.8.

Hazard-zone scoring is 10.0 in some lower-scored areas near Isleton and reaches 70.0 near Rancho Murieta.

Fire-history scoring runs from 5.0 to 95.0, with the highest value recorded near Isleton.

20 median terrain score (max 40 near Rancho Murieta)
43.8 median vegetation & fuels score (max 73.1 near Rancho Murieta)
Fire weather

Fire weather across Sacramento County

Fire weather was measured across the county and stays within a relatively tight band. Scores run from 62.3 in Galt to 69.2 in Isleton, with a midpoint of 62.7.

A separate modeled burn-probability product is available for Sacramento County, but it is not a fire-weather measure. It reports a mean annual burn probability of 0.26% and a 90th-percentile cell value of 0.55%.

That same modeled product indicates 68.3% of the county is in places that can burn, and reports a mean conditional flame length of 2.28 feet.

62.3 lowest fire-weather score — near Galt
69.2 highest fire-weather score — near Isleton
What drives it

Which part of the risk moves, and which doesn't

Differences between communities are noticeable. Rancho Murieta has the highest community median in this set at 52.0, while Sacramento is much lower at 18.3.

Other communities cluster closer to the county middle. Rancho Cordova is 28.8, Galt is 25.8, and Folsom is 25.3.

At the lower end of the community list, Citrus Heights is 18.4 and Isleton is 21.7. That spread is why two homes in different parts of the county can have very different wildfire-risk profiles.

Each bar is what one part of the score covers across Sacramento County, on the same 0–100 scale. A long bar is a part of the risk that depends on where you are; a short one is the same almost everywhere.

Terrain
5–40 highest near Rancho Murieta
Vegetation & fuels
20–73.1 highest near Rancho Murieta
Hazard zone
10–70 highest near Rancho Murieta
Fire history
5–95 highest near Isleton
Fire weather
62.3–69.2 highest near Isleton
Overall score
18.3–65.3 highest near Rancho Murieta

The tick on each bar is the middle value. Tier boundaries — Moderate at 25, High at 50, Very High at 75 — are the faint lines behind them.

Show every number behind these bars
Layer Min Median Max Lowest place Highest place Points
Terrain 5 20 40 near Isleton Rancho Murieta 160
Vegetation & fuels 20 43.8 73.1 Elk Grove Rancho Murieta 160
Hazard zone 10 10 70 near Isleton near Rancho Murieta 160
Fire history 5 5 95 near Isleton near Isleton 160
Fire weather 62.3 62.7 69.2 Galt Isleton 160
Composite 18.3 26.3 65.3 Elk Grove Rancho Murieta 160

Independently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at 0.26% (90th percentile cell: 0.55%), with a mean conditional flame length of 2.28 ft. 68% of the 17,717 grid cells inside the county carry burnable fuel at all.

Source: USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0 (ImageServer, county extent).

CAL FIRE has no mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone at 2 of the 160 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At 2 of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead.

160 sample points on a ~2.3 km grid, plus one at the centre of each community, weighted with the Satelife county profile v1 · median layer coverage 100%. Scores are 0–100 and comparable within the county, not across states.

For a property

What a county range means for one address

A separate property-condition measure was not measured at all for this county page.

What is available for property context is countywide risk information. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Sacramento County’s wildfire risk and expected annual loss from wildfire as Relatively Moderate, with social vulnerability rated Relatively Low.

For broader context, FEMA rates county community resilience as Relatively Moderate. On the same countywide view, the modeled burn-probability product reports 0.26% mean annual burn probability.

Across 160 sampled points in Sacramento County, the score runs from 18.3 to 65.3 — two neighbouring parcels can sit in different tiers. A county number is the middle of that spread; it says nothing about which end yours is at.

Find out where your Sacramento County parcel sits

Slope, the fuel touching the structure, the road out, the fire history within a mile — measured at your address, not averaged across the county.

Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan

Coverage

ZIP codes we cover in Sacramento County

Every one of the 72 ZIP areas that touch Sacramento County — we run address-level reports in all of them. They are grouped by the median score of the points we sampled inside each, which is a neighbourhood-scale indicator and not a score for any property: two homes in the same ZIP routinely land in different tiers.

Grouped from 42 of 72 ZIP areas — the rest had no sample point fall inside them. The community shown is the nearest mapped place to the ZIP's centre.

ZIP areas are Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting the county boundary.

Where to go next

Sacramento County wildfire risk in context

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Sacramento County wildfire risk

How much of Sacramento County has burned since 1984?

1.8% of Sacramento County has burned since 1984, totaling 11,278 acres in recorded fire perimeters.

What is the most recent large fire listed for the county?

Latrobe (2017) is the most recent large fire listed, and it is also the largest fire named for this county in this report.

Do most places in the county score high wildfire risk?

No. Most scored points fall in Moderate (73) or Low (69). Another 18 are in High, and none are in Very High.

Is the fire-weather score very different across the county?

It varies, but within a narrow range: from 62.3 in Galt to 69.2 in Isleton.

What does FEMA say about countywide wildfire risk?

FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Sacramento County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate, and its expected annual loss from wildfire as Relatively Moderate.

This page is generated from a Sacramento County data pack assembled on 2026-08-18 (pack v1.0). Scores are sampled across the county, not measured at any individual address, and are informational decision support — not a substitute for official evacuation orders, a fire-agency hazard determination, or an insurer's underwriting judgement. Data versions: fema_nri 1.20.0 (Dec 2025) · landfire per adapter · nifc_history All Years View · wfigs current · wrc v2.0 (2024) · zcta Census 2020.

What does your parcel look like, layer by layer?

A county range shows the spread. An address-level Satelife report shows where in that spread your property actually sits — PDF, per-layer score, and a prioritized mitigation plan.

Start with your address →