The study compared major cities on wildfire risk, drought, firefighter access, gas heating use, age at home, and population density across 27 metrics.
California and Texas dominate the new rankings of America’s most vulnerable cities in 2025, with multiple cities in both states in the top 20.
11 California cities are listed in the top 20 on the list of 200 cities. Except for Pomona, the list is Oxnard (4th) and Glendale (7th)Santa Clarita (10th), Weisselia (11th), and Lancaster (13th). Rankings from 16 to 20 are Palmdale, Torrance, Long Beach, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.
Four Texas cities, including El Paso, Amarillo, Lubbock and Pasadena, also rank in the top 15.
This study compared the largest cities in the country based on 27 indicators, including wildfire risk, drought, access to both career and volunteer firefighters, gas heating, average home age, and percentage of homes using population density.
“It’s not surprising that many western cities were named in this report. Homegnome analyst Kimberly Magerl told the Epoch Times. HomeGnome brings homeowners together with home services experts.
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Magerl said this was the first time the company has conducted this particular study.
“We thought it was timely what was going on in California, so we want to help homeowners across the country protect their property in the event of a fire,” she said.
Simple Notes – You can reduce the risk of a fire in your home, such as installing a smoke alarm, moving the space heater away from flammable objects, or paying attention when cooking without the fireplace being unattended.
“It’s also important that homeowners run a lot of appliances at once to avoid overloading the electrical circuits,” she said. “It can often cause a fire.”
Pomona ranked the city with the 12th highest risk of wildfires, but the study found that the city lacked fire resistant companies, chimneys and home repair services. It is also linked to 24 other California cities with the worst traffic congestion.
Detroit ranked second on the list due to the high prevalence of household fires over the past five years and the lack of home fire alarms. The median age of a Detroit home is 76 years old, with 84% using gas to heat it.
Other cities in the top 20 list include Wichita, Kansas. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kansas City, Kansas. Patterson, New Jersey.
Provided by Homegnome
Anne Russell, president of the Greater Los Angeles Association’s Association of Realtors, said the report is no surprise following a month-long wildfire that destroyed 57,000 acres in Southern California.
“As a result, many former homeowners have left the area, some have moved out of state,” she told the Epoch Times. “One of my clients went to Washington State and I don’t know if he’ll be back in California. He saw his home burn on the ground from his ring doorbell app.”
Russell points out that other former homeowners will be leaving temporarily, and decide whether to rebuild the land or move on.
“The bigger problem is that much of the land is very toxic and takes months to clear,” she said. “You had something like an electric car battery that was melting into the ground.”
Local real estate agents who have concentrated their businesses in areas destroyed by fires must find other areas to do their business. Until then, those who want to stay in the area are dealing with rent expansion and insurance costs.
Just recently, Russell was able to help his client get insurance for his Beverly Hills apartment, but when the lender reviewed the complex’s master insurance coverage, they deemed it inappropriate and refused to process the loan.
“First-time home buyers are hit hardest as they compete with all those who have been evacuated,” Russell said.
Courtesy of the National Fire Prevention Association
“On average, fire departments responded to a fire somewhere in the US every 23 seconds in 2023,” the web page said. “Civilians were fatally injured in the fire every 2 hours and 23 minutes. Every 39 minutes, civilians were fatally injured in the fire.”
The NFPA notes that non-home housing structures such as hotels, motels and dormitories, as well as non-resident property such as education, institutions, retail, offices or manufacturing facilities, are usually more regulated than household property.
Surprisingly, another location in California ranked in 2025 as the most vulnerable city in a home fire. Sacramento offers the most fire stations per 100,000 people and career firefighters per 100,000 households.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ranked second as one of the safest cities when it comes to home fires, followed by Madison, Wisconsin. Honolulu, Hawaii; Alexandria, Virginia. Irvine, California ranks seventh, and three Texas cities, Dallas, Houston and Laredo, also created the top 20 safest communities.
While New York was ranked 39th safest city, Big Apple is the home of the nation’s most fire alarm system companies and fire prevention services.
“It’s going to take a long time to rebuild here, but the idea is to get back better with non-inflammatory materials for the home,” Russell said. “What’s amazing is how strong people have come together during this necessary time. This is a testament to the resilience of Californians in the wake of this devastation.”
