{
  "title": "Wildfire Risk in Contra Costa County, CA 2026 | Satelife",
  "description": "Wildfire risk in Contra Costa County spans a wide range across the places we scored. Scores run from 12.7 in North Richmond to 77.4 in Clayton, with a county middle value of 32.6.",
  "image": "https://satelife.ai/images/wildfire-risk/contra-costa-county/generated/contra-costa-county-locator.webp",
  "canonical": "https://satelife.ai/wildfire-risk/california/contra-costa-county/",
  "content": "[Home](/)›[Wildfire Risk](/wildfire-risk/)›[California](/wildfire-risk/california/)›Contra Costa County\n\nContra Costa County, California\n\n# Wildfire risk in Contra Costa County: _where it is highest_, and why\n\nWildfire risk in Contra Costa County spans a wide range across the places we scored. Scores run from 12.7 in North Richmond to 77.4 in Clayton, with a county middle value of 32.6.\n\n[Score my Contra Costa County address →](#score-my-address) [How risky is this county? ↓](#risk-at-a-glance)\n\nBefore 20002000s2010s2020sCommunity\n\nContra Costa County — the largest fires on record, at their perimeter centres, with the county’s main communities. Select a marker for its detail.\n\nAt a glance\n\n## Half of Contra Costa County scores _Moderate_ or worse\n\nWe scored 194 points across Contra Costa County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 1% of them come out Very High, while 38% are Low. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.\n\n28%\n\n33%\n\n38%\n\n**Very High** 1% · 2 of 194 points **High** 28% · 55 of 194 points **Moderate** 33% · 64 of 194 points **Low** 38% · 73 of 194 points\n\nSafest end we measured 12.7 near North Richmond · Low\n\nMiddle of the county 32.6 Moderate — half of Contra Costa County is above this\n\nMost exposed end we measured 77.4 near Clayton · Very High\n\n### And the federal models agree it is a fire county\n\nRelatively Moderate FEMA National Risk Index — wildfire risk rating · index score 97.6 / 100\n\n$10.8M / yr FEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively High\n\n0.65% USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 1.40%\n\n3.14 ft USFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 69% of the county carries burnable fuel\n\nFEMA NRI also rates Contra Costa County: all-hazards risk Very High · social vulnerability Relatively Low · community resilience Relatively High · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0048.\n\nSources: 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.\n\nWhat does your Contra Costa County address score?\n\nA county range shows the spread. Your parcel sits somewhere inside it — the report says where, and what to do about it.\n\nFree to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan\n\nLocal context\n\n## What the data says about _Contra Costa County_\n\nLooking at the four address-style risk tiers, the largest group of scored locations falls in the Low tier (73), followed by Moderate (64) and High (55). Very High shows up, but only in a small number of places.\n\nFor county-wide context, FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Contra Costa County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate and its wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively High.\n\nFire record\n\n## Where the fires _actually were_\n\nSince 1984, 12,119 acres have burned within recorded perimeters in Contra Costa County. That equals 2.4% of the county, across 42 fire perimeters.\n\nThe largest fire listed for this county is Morgan (2013), and it is also the most recent large fire. Its recorded size is 3,108 acres.\n\nOther named fires in the county record include Mitchell Canyon (1977), which reached 4,859 acres, and Blackhawk (1981).\n\n42 mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984\n\n12,119 acres inside those perimeters since 1984\n\n2.4% of the county's area, as a share of 2,069.2 km²\n\nMorgan 2013 most recent large fire on record\n\nBefore 20002000s2010s2020s \n\nFire perimeters coloured by decade. Select a perimeter for its name, year and size.\n\nNamed fires on record\n\n-   **Morgan Fire**20133,108 acres\n-   **Mitchell Canyon Fire**19774,859 acres\n-   **Blackhawk Fire**19812,361 acres\n-   **Greenridge #6 Fire**19981,388 acres\n-   **Vasco Fire**19671,399 acres\n-   **State Park #2 Fire**19611,241 acres\n-   **Kirker Fire**2013478 acres\n-   **Marsh Creek Fire**1958976 acres\n\nPerimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · largest on record: Morgan 2013. Perimeters are simplified for display; acreage is the figure the source records.\n\nCommunities\n\n## Where in the county you are _matters most_\n\nCommunity-level patterns show both lower-risk and higher-risk pockets. North Richmond is at 13.4, while Kensington is at 64.9.\n\nAmong the largest cities, Antioch is higher at 36.9, while Concord (18.8) and Richmond (19.6) are lower.\n\nSeveral foothill and edge communities sit higher than nearby urban centers, including Moraga (54.1), Orinda (51.8), and Lafayette (44.8).\n\nKensington village · 5,077 people\n\n64.9 _High_\n\nClayton town · 12,265 people\n\n64 _High_\n\nBlackhawk village · 9,637 people\n\n57.1 _High_\n\nDiablo village · 1,255 people\n\n54.6 _High_\n\nMoraga town · 17,783 people\n\n54.1 _High_\n\nMartinez town · 38,297 people\n\n54 _High_\n\nCrockett village · 3,100 people\n\n53.1 _High_\n\nCanyon village\n\n52.2 _High_\n\nOrinda town · 19,926 people\n\n51.8 _High_\n\nNorris Canyon village · 957 people\n\n51.8 _High_\n\n34 more communities in Contra Costa County\n\nEast Richmond Heights village · 3,280 people\n\n50.8 _High_\n\nCamino Tassajara village · 4,951 people\n\n50.1 _High_\n\nNorth Gate village\n\n45.6 _Moderate_\n\nLafayette town · 26,638 people\n\n44.8 _Moderate_\n\nEl Sobrante village\n\n44 _Moderate_\n\nByron village · 1,277 people\n\n42.9 _Moderate_\n\nBay Point town · 21,349 people\n\n38.7 _Moderate_\n\nAntioch city · 111,502 people\n\n36.9 _Moderate_\n\nCastle Hill village · 1,299 people\n\n35.9 _Moderate_\n\nWalnut Creek town · 70,166 people\n\n28.6 _Moderate_\n\nKnightsen village · 1,568 people\n\n27.5 _Moderate_\n\nSan Ramon town · 75,995 people\n\n26.8 _Moderate_\n\nPacheco village · 3,700 people\n\n26.6 _Moderate_\n\nBrentwood town · 64,474 people\n\n25.6 _Moderate_\n\nClyde village\n\n25.2 _Moderate_\n\nBethel Island village · 2,137 people\n\n25 _Moderate_\n\nDiscovery Bay town · 13,352 people\n\n24.3 _Low_\n\nSaranap village · 5,202 people\n\n22.5 _Low_\n\nDanville town · 44,510 people\n\n22.1 _Low_\n\nEl Cerrito town · 25,508 people\n\n21.3 _Low_\n\nRodeo village\n\n20.9 _Low_\n\nPittsburg town · 72,588 people\n\n20 _Low_\n\nRichmond city · 110,567 people\n\n19.6 _Low_\n\nOakley town · 42,543 people\n\n18.9 _Low_\n\nConcord city · 129,295 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nPleasant Hill town · 34,839 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nSan Pablo town · 30,990 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nPinole town · 19,250 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nAlamo town · 15,314 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nVine Hill village · 3,800 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nMountain View village · 2,372 people\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nContra Costa Centre village\n\n18.8 _Low_\n\nHercules town · 26,276 people\n\n16.3 _Low_\n\nNorth Richmond village · 3,717 people\n\n13.4 _Low_\n\nThe 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.\n\nTerrain & fuels\n\n## Terrain, vegetation and _fuels_\n\nTerrain exposure varies a lot by location. The terrain score ranges from 5.0 in Richmond to 65.0 in Camino Tassajara, with a county middle value of 20.0.\n\nVegetation and fuels also vary widely. Scores run from 5.0 in Byron up to 76.8 in Diablo, and the county middle value is 40.0.\n\nHazard-zone scores are low in many places but reach very high values in some areas: the middle value is 10.0, while Moraga reaches 90.0.\n\nFire-history scores are also uneven. The middle value is 5.0, and Blackhawk reaches 95.0.\n\n20 median terrain score (max 65 near Camino Tassajara)\n\n40 median vegetation & fuels score (max 76.8 near Diablo)\n\nFire weather\n\n## Fire weather across _Contra Costa County_\n\nFire-weather scores were measured across the county and are tightly grouped. Values run from 61.9 in Byron to 69.2 in Discovery Bay, with a middle value of 67.9.\n\nSeparately, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities model reports a mean annual burn probability of 0.65% and a 90th-percentile cell value of 1.40%. It also shows that 68.9% of the county is in areas that can burn.\n\n61.9 lowest fire-weather score — near Byron\n\n69.2 highest fire-weather score — near Discovery Bay\n\nWhat drives it\n\n## Which part of the risk _moves_, and which doesn't\n\nRisk is not even across the county. The lowest scored location is North Richmond at 12.7, while the highest is Clayton at 77.4.\n\nAmong named communities, higher middle scores appear in places like Kensington (64.9) and Clayton (64.0), while North Richmond is much lower at 13.4.\n\nEven among larger cities and towns, differences are clear: Antioch is at 36.9, Concord at 18.8, and Martinez at 54.0.\n\nEach bar is what one part of the score covers across Contra Costa 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.\n\nTerrain\n\n5–65 highest near Camino Tassajara\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n5–76.8 highest near Diablo\n\nHazard zone\n\n10–90 highest near Moraga\n\nFire history\n\n5–95 highest near Blackhawk\n\nFire weather\n\n61.9–69.2 highest near Discovery Bay\n\nOverall score\n\n12.7–77.4 highest near Clayton\n\nThe 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.\n\nShow every number behind these bars\n\nLayer\n\nMin\n\nMedian\n\nMax\n\nLowest place\n\nHighest place\n\nPoints\n\nTerrain\n\n5\n\n20\n\n65\n\nRichmond\n\nCamino Tassajara\n\n194\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n5\n\n40\n\n76.8\n\nByron\n\nDiablo\n\n194\n\nHazard zone\n\n10\n\n10\n\n90\n\nSan Ramon\n\nMoraga\n\n194\n\nFire history\n\n5\n\n5\n\n95\n\nNorris Canyon\n\nBlackhawk\n\n194\n\nFire weather\n\n61.9\n\n67.9\n\n69.2\n\nByron\n\nDiscovery Bay\n\n194\n\nComposite\n\n12.7\n\n32.6\n\n77.4\n\nNorth Richmond\n\nClayton\n\n194\n\nIndependently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at **0.65%** (90th percentile cell: **1.40%**), with a mean conditional flame length of **3.14 ft**. **69%** of the 24,362 grid cells inside the county carry burnable fuel at all.\n\nSource: USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0 (ImageServer, county extent).\n\nCAL FIRE has no mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone at **4** of the 194 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At **2** of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead; at the remaining 2 the hazard weight is renormalised away rather than scored as low.\n\n194 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.\n\nFor a property\n\n## What a county range means for _one address_\n\nFor a homeowner or buyer, the key point is that wildfire risk changes a lot by location in Contra Costa County. The scored locations are spread across Low, Moderate, High, and Very High tiers, with the largest count in Low (73).\n\nNearby places can still look very different on specific risk components. For example, hazard-zone scores are 10.0 in San Ramon and 90.0 in Moraga.\n\nCounty-wide ratings give added context but are not neighborhood-specific. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Contra Costa County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate and its all-hazards risk as Very High.\n\nAcross 194 sampled points in Contra Costa County, the score runs from 12.7 to 77.4 — 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.\n\nFind out where your Contra Costa County parcel sits\n\nSlope, the fuel touching the structure, the road out, the fire history within a mile — measured at your address, not averaged across the county.\n\nFree to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan\n\nCoverage\n\n## ZIP codes we cover in Contra Costa County\n\nEvery one of the 60 ZIP areas that touch Contra Costa 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.\n\n**High** 10 ZIPs\n\n-   [94517 Clayton72](/wildfire-risk/zip/94517/)\n-   [94521 Clayton58](/wildfire-risk/zip/94521/)\n-   [94563 Orinda56](/wildfire-risk/zip/94563/)\n-   [94556 Moraga54](/wildfire-risk/zip/94556/)\n-   [94516 Canyon53](/wildfire-risk/zip/94516/)\n-   [94569 Crockett53](/wildfire-risk/zip/94569/)\n-   [94805 East Richmond Heights51](/wildfire-risk/zip/94805/)\n-   [94588 Camino Tassajara50](/wildfire-risk/zip/94588/)\n-   [94551 Camino Tassajara50](/wildfire-risk/zip/94551/)\n-   [94583 Norris Canyon50](/wildfire-risk/zip/94583/)\n\n**Moderate** 20 ZIPs\n\n-   [94506 Blackhawk49](/wildfire-risk/zip/94506/)\n-   [94803 El Sobrante48](/wildfire-risk/zip/94803/)\n-   [94509 Antioch40](/wildfire-risk/zip/94509/)\n-   [94598 North Gate40](/wildfire-risk/zip/94598/)\n-   [94708 Kensington40](/wildfire-risk/zip/94708/)\n-   [94553 Martinez38](/wildfire-risk/zip/94553/)\n-   [94528 Diablo37](/wildfire-risk/zip/94528/)\n-   [94531 Antioch37](/wildfire-risk/zip/94531/)\n-   [94549 Lafayette36](/wildfire-risk/zip/94549/)\n-   [94565 Bay Point36](/wildfire-risk/zip/94565/)\n-   [94596 Castle Hill36](/wildfire-risk/zip/94596/)\n-   [94582 San Ramon35](/wildfire-risk/zip/94582/)\n-   [94564 El Sobrante31](/wildfire-risk/zip/94564/)\n-   [94572 Rodeo30](/wildfire-risk/zip/94572/)\n-   [94514 Byron29](/wildfire-risk/zip/94514/)\n-   [94547 Hercules29](/wildfire-risk/zip/94547/)\n-   [94513 Brentwood26](/wildfire-risk/zip/94513/)\n-   [94511 Bethel Island26](/wildfire-risk/zip/94511/)\n-   [94525 Crockett26](/wildfire-risk/zip/94525/)\n-   [94561 Oakley25](/wildfire-risk/zip/94561/)\n\n**Low** 13 ZIPs\n\n-   [95219 Bethel Island25](/wildfire-risk/zip/95219/)\n-   [94530 El Cerrito24](/wildfire-risk/zip/94530/)\n-   [94526 Danville22](/wildfire-risk/zip/94526/)\n-   [94505 Discovery Bay21](/wildfire-risk/zip/94505/)\n-   [94804 Richmond20](/wildfire-risk/zip/94804/)\n-   [94507 Alamo19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94507/)\n-   [94518 Concord19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94518/)\n-   [94520 Concord19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94520/)\n-   [94523 Pleasant Hill19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94523/)\n-   [94595 Castle Hill19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94595/)\n-   [94597 Contra Costa Centre19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94597/)\n-   [94801 North Richmond19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94801/)\n-   [94806 San Pablo19](/wildfire-risk/zip/94806/)\n\n**No sampled point inside** 17 ZIPs\n\n[94519 Concord](/wildfire-risk/zip/94519/) · [94546 Norris Canyon](/wildfire-risk/zip/94546/) · [94548 Knightsen](/wildfire-risk/zip/94548/) · [94552 Norris Canyon](/wildfire-risk/zip/94552/) · [94568 San Ramon](/wildfire-risk/zip/94568/) · [94571 Antioch](/wildfire-risk/zip/94571/) · [94575 Moraga](/wildfire-risk/zip/94575/) · [94590 Crockett](/wildfire-risk/zip/94590/) · [94611 Canyon](/wildfire-risk/zip/94611/) · [94619 Canyon](/wildfire-risk/zip/94619/) · [94705 Orinda](/wildfire-risk/zip/94705/) · [94706 Kensington](/wildfire-risk/zip/94706/) · [94707 Kensington](/wildfire-risk/zip/94707/) · [94710 El Cerrito](/wildfire-risk/zip/94710/) · [95206 Discovery Bay](/wildfire-risk/zip/95206/) · [95304 Byron](/wildfire-risk/zip/95304/) · [95391 Byron](/wildfire-risk/zip/95391/)\n\nGrouped from 43 of 60 ZIP areas — the rest had no sample point fall inside them. The community shown is the nearest mapped place to the ZIP's centre.\n\nZIP areas are Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting the county boundary.\n\nWhere to go next\n\n## Contra Costa County wildfire risk _in context_\n\n[California wildfire risk The statewide picture and every county page we publish](/wildfire-risk/california/) [Wildfire risk by state Every state and county we cover](/wildfire-risk/) [How Satelife calculates wildfire risk Data sources, layers, score composition, honest limits](/wildfire-risk/methodology/) [Create a wildfire evacuation plan Zones, egress routes, refuge areas](/wildfire-evacuation-plan/) [Run a report for a Contra Costa County address PDF + score + mitigation plan](/#cta)\n\nFAQ\n\n## Frequently asked questions about _Contra Costa County wildfire risk_\n\nWhat is the largest fire listed for Contra Costa County?\n\nThe largest fire listed is Morgan (2013) at 3,108 acres. It is also the most recent large fire in the county record.\n\nHow much of the county has burned since 1984?\n\n2.4% of Contra Costa County has burned since 1984, totaling 12,119 acres across 42 fire perimeters.\n\nIs wildfire risk similar everywhere in the county?\n\nNo. Scores range from 12.7 in North Richmond to 77.4 in Clayton, so risk can differ substantially from one community to another.\n\nDo fire-weather conditions vary much across Contra Costa County?\n\nIn the county scoring, fire-weather values are in a narrow band, from 61.9 to 69.2. A separate USFS model reports mean annual burn probability as 0.65% and a 90th-percentile cell value of 1.40%.\n\nWhat does FEMA say about county-wide wildfire risk?\n\nFEMA’s National Risk Index rates Contra Costa County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate and wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively High.\n\nThis page is generated from a Contra Costa 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.\n\n## What does _your parcel_ look like, layer by layer?\n\nA 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.\n\n[Start with your address →](/#cta)\n\n[![PRR](/images/prr.png)](/ficha-de-website-voucher-satelife.pdf)\n\n© 2024–2026 Satelife, Lda. All rights reserved.\n\nSatelife reports are for informational purposes only and do not constitute insurance, financial, or legal advice."
}