Local tree and fire data
These pages put public government data about our service area into plain tables you can download: wildfire risk to homes by community, large fires since 1980, housing age, climate normals, elevation and hardiness zones, wood heat and tree care wages.
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Every number is from a named federal source with the date we retrieved it. We built these pages because the numbers explain the tree work: old neighborhoods have big trees, dry valleys have irrigated trees, and high-risk communities need defensible space.
Wildfire risk to homes by community in Northern Nevada
Most communities around Carson City, Reno and Lake Tahoe rank in the top 5% of the country for wildfire risk to homes, according to the USDA Forest Service. Virginia City, Lemmon Valley and Dayton ran
See the dataLarge wildfires near Carson City, Reno and Lake Tahoe since 1980
The National Interagency Fire Center maps 299 wildfire perimeters of 300 acres or more since 1980 in the region around Carson City, Reno and Lake Tahoe. The table lists the 40 largest, from the 2021 D
See the dataHow old are the homes, and the trees? Housing age by town
Homes in Hawthorne, Virginia City, Zephyr Cove and Kingsbury are the oldest in our area, with more than two in three built before 1980, while Spanish Springs, Northwest Reno and Cold Springs are the n
See the dataSnow, rain and temperature normals by weather station
Annual precipitation in our area runs from about 4 inches at Hawthorne to 11.7 inches at Virginia City on the valley and foothill side, and 18 to 22 inches at the Nevada Tahoe stations. Snowfall varie
See the dataElevation and plant hardiness zones across the service area
Our service area spans more than 3,000 feet of elevation, from Fallon at 3,965 feet to Kingsbury at 7,126 feet, and USDA hardiness zones from 6b to 7b. Zone 6b places average an extreme winter low of
See the dataWho heats with wood in Northern Nevada
About 27.7% of households in Palomino Valley and 26.5% in Virginia City heat mainly with wood, compared with 1.0% for Nevada and 1.4% for the United States. In the big cities the share is under 3%, bu
See the dataTree care wages and businesses in Nevada
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay of tree trimmers and pruners at $24.62 an hour in Nevada and $30.15 an hour in the Reno area, against $24.50 nationally. The Census Bureau count
See the dataTree rules by jurisdiction: permits, rights-of-way and Lake Tahoe
In Reno you do not need a permit to remove a tree on your own property, but a city right-of-way tree needs a Tree Work Permit and a Certified Arborist. In the Lake Tahoe Basin, TRPA requires a permit
See the dataHow to read these pages
Each page has a chart, the full table and a CSV download. Small towns have small samples, so their Census figures are approximate. Wildfire percentiles compare communities with each other and do not describe any single property.
What does each data page show?
Each data page shows one set of public figures, such as wildfire risk, housing age, climate, elevation, wood heat, tree care wages or tree rules, with its source named. The table below gives the source and one example from each.
| Page | Source | One thing it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire risk to homes by community | USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities, April 2026 data | Carson City's risk to homes is higher than 98.5% of US communities. Fallon sits near the 31st percentile. |
| Large wildfires since 1980 | National Interagency Fire Center perimeters | 299 mapped fires of 300 acres or more in the box around our service area, 1980 to 2026. |
| Housing age by town | Census ACS 2020-2024 | About 83% of Hawthorne homes were built before 1980, against about 4% in Spanish Springs. |
| Climate normals by station | NOAA 1991-2020 normals | 9.34 inches of precipitation a year at the Carson City station, 4.77 at the Fallon Experiment Station, 18.46 at Glenbrook. |
| Elevation and hardiness zones | USGS 3DEP, USDA 2023 map | About 3,965 feet at Fallon to about 7,126 feet at Kingsbury, in zones 6b to 7b. |
| Who heats with wood | Census ACS table B25040 | About 28% of households in ZIP 89510 (Palomino Valley) and about 26% in Virginia City heat mainly with wood. Nevada as a whole is 1.0%. |
| Tree care wages and businesses | BLS occupational wages, Census County Business Patterns 2023 | Nevada has about 190 people employed as tree trimmers and pruners. These are wages, not job prices. |
| Tree rules by jurisdiction | TRPA, City of Reno, Carson City and others | Where a permit applies: the Tahoe Basin's 14-inch rule and Reno's right-of-way permit. |
How does a homeowner use this?
To decide what to do first. If your community ranks high for wildfire risk, defensible space around the house comes before anything cosmetic. If your street was built before 1980, the trees are likely large and mature, and dead wooding, cabling and large removals are the usual conversations. If you live where it rains 5 inches a year, a tree that loses its irrigation is a tree in trouble.
The numbers also help with questions for an insurer, an HOA board or a fire district. Each table carries its source link so you can check the original.
What are the limits of the data?
The figures are estimates and rankings, not statements about one house or one tree. Survey margins, ZIP-wide numbers, station-based climate data, mapped fire perimeters and no-traffic drive times each have limits, listed below.
- Census figures are survey estimates. In places under about 2,000 people the margins are wide, so we round and say about.
- ZIP-based neighborhoods, such as South Reno (89521) or West Carson City (89703), use figures for the whole ZIP code. They have no wildfire record of their own, so the page points to the parent city.
- Climate normals belong to a weather station, not a town. Elevation changes the numbers quickly on the Sierra front.
- Fire acreage is the mapped perimeter. Distances are measured to the center of a perimeter, not its edge. Figures for 2026 may not be final.
- Drive times are estimates without traffic from our yard at 6301 US Highway 50 East. They are not an arrival promise.
- A percentile ranks a community against others. It says nothing about one house, one lot or one tree.
Sources
- USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities (April 2026 data)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- National Interagency Fire Center: fire perimeter history (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- USGS 3DEP elevation point query (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (retrieved October 1, 2026)
Straight answers
Questions people ask
Still have a question? Call 775.232.8243. Phones are answered seven days a week.
Where do these numbers come from?
Federal sources: the USDA Forest Service, the National Interagency Fire Center, the U.S. Census Bureau, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the USDA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each page names its source and links to it.
How current is the data?
Each page shows the date we retrieved the data and the period it covers, such as the 2020-2024 Census estimates, the 1991-2020 climate normals and the April 2026 wildfire risk data.
Can I download or reuse the tables?
Yes. Every data page has a CSV download. The figures are public government data, so please credit the original source named on the page.
Does a high wildfire ranking mean my house is at risk?
Not by itself. The ranking compares whole communities. What matters for one house is the fuel around it, which is what a defensible space assessment looks at.
Why does a tree company publish data?
Because the numbers explain the work. Housing age tells you how big the trees are, precipitation tells you which trees depend on irrigation, and wildfire rankings tell you where defensible space matters most.
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