Fernley is 45.2 miles from our yard, at 4,154 feet. The tables compare its Census figures with Lyon County, Nevada and the United States and add the Forest Service ranking, the nearest NOAA stations and the large fires mapped within about 10 miles. The county column matters here, because Fernley is more than a third of its households.
Young, plain and close to the county average
The median home was built in 2001, against 1998 for the county and 1996 for Nevada. Just 14.1% of homes predate 1980. Owner-occupancy is 72.0%, and 76.6% of homes are single-family detached. Mobile homes, 9.4%, are about half the county's 17.8%. The median home value, $366,700, is nearly the same as the county's $366,100.
Heating is almost entirely conventional: wood is the main fuel for 0.5% of households and bottled gas for 2.2%, against 4.4% and 10.3% for the county. Silver Springs, in the same county, is far higher on both.
Exposure by building
Risk to homes ranks above 89.2% of US communities and 45.1% of Nevada communities, below Lyon County's 93.0% and above its 37.5% Nevada figure. Of 8,821 counted buildings, 11.7% are directly exposed and 88.3% indirectly; none are minimally exposed.
Only four fire records fall within about 10 miles: Virginia in 2006 (4,602 acres, 6.8 miles), Nixon in 2011 (11,195 acres, 7.6 miles), Little Valley in 2008 (562 acres, 7.9 miles) and Ramsey in 2000 (7,621 acres, 9.1 miles). It is the shortest list of any town with a fire on it.
The yard, the trees and the climate rows
A young town has young trees. Calls here are likelier to be trimming, stump grinding and lot clearing and brush mowing than removal of very large old trees. Storms are handled through emergency tree service.
The nearest station is Wadsworth 4 N, 6.1 miles away at 4,000 feet, which reports a mean temperature of 52.5 F and no precipitation or snow normal. Lahontan Dam is 13.9 miles away. The drive from our yard is about 60 minutes without traffic, a distance, not a promise.
Limits
Fernley's figures are estimates with margins of error, the fire list holds only perimeters of 300 acres or more, and a rank is a comparison, not a forecast for any lot.
Because the sheet has no local rain or snow normal, we say nothing about Fernley precipitation.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (pulled October 1, 2026)
- USDA Forest Service: Wildfire Risk to Communities (tabular download dated April 15, 2026) (pulled October 1, 2026)
- NOAA NCEI: U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (pulled October 1, 2026)
- National Interagency Fire Center: InterAgency Fire Perimeter History and WFIGS perimeters (pulled October 1, 2026)