Washoe County tree and wildfire data sheet

This sheet gives Washoe County's Census figures against Nevada and the United States, the county's Forest Service wildfire ranking, and a table of every Washoe County town and Reno or Sparks ZIP neighborhood we serve, with its own households, median year built, wildfire rank and elevation. It is the county overview. For one place, use the town sheet or the town page.

A county of two ages

The median home was built in 1991, five years before the Nevada median. Homes built before 1980 are 35.0% of the total, against 22.0% for Nevada, and 9.2% were built before 1960, about twice the state's 4.7%. Yet 35.2% date from 2000 or later. Owner-occupancy is 59.9%, Nevada's figure almost exactly, and the median home value, $539,900, is about $100,000 above the state's $435,400.

Few households heat with wood, 1.1% against 1.0% for Nevada, and 3.6% use bottled gas, against 3.0%.

Reading the place table

The oldest median in the table is Crystal Bay at 1972, followed by Old Southwest Reno and West Reno at 1975 and Lemmon Valley and Washoe Valley at 1979. The newest is South Reno at 2007, then North Sparks and Wingfield Springs and Cold Springs at 2004, and Spanish Springs at 2002. In the middle sit Reno at 1990, Sparks at 1993 and Sun Valley at 1990.

Elevation runs from 4,073 feet at Wadsworth to 6,437 feet at Incline Village and 6,396 feet at Crystal Bay. Twelve of the 25 rows are ZIP neighborhoods or ZIP-based areas that have no Forest Service community record of their own; the table says so, and for those places you use the city or the county figure.

What the wildfire rows say

The county ranks above 97.2% of US communities and 62.5% of Nevada communities for risk to homes. Of 176,157 counted buildings, 16.3% are directly exposed, 50.6% indirectly and 33.0% minimally. Among the places with their own record, Lemmon Valley is highest at 99.2%, then Verdi at 98.8%, Spanish Springs at 98.6% and Cold Springs at 98.4%. Sparks and Mogul sit at 95.0%, Crystal Bay at 92.9% and Wadsworth, the lowest, at 88.1%.

A county figure averages very different ground, from the valley floor in Sparks to the Tahoe slopes at Incline Village, so use it as a frame, not as a prediction for one street.

What it means for trees and for the work

The age spread is the practical point. Older Reno neighborhoods point to large trees and tree removal; younger ones such as Spanish Springs and Cold Springs point to pruning and defensible space. For wind and snow context, see the statewide high wind and winter storm pages.

Washoe County includes the Nevada side of the lake at Incline Village and Crystal Bay, where Tahoe Regional Planning Agency rules apply. Of the places with their own sheets, the drive from our Carson City yard runs from 30.7 miles to Incline Village to 49.6 miles to Cold Springs, without traffic.