Report: California home hardening investments protect property and boost economy

In the face of frequent, costly wildfires, California is not helpless: Investing in a home hardening sector — a crucial wildfire preparedness measure — will increase wildfire resilience and bring economic benefits with every dollar rippling throughout the economy and return about $1.70 in total economic activity according to a new report released today.

Earth Economics, commissioned by NRDC, released the report — California’s Home Hardening Economy: Investing in a Resilient Future.

While California landscapes are adapted to wildfire, many homes are not as prepared, the report states. Home hardening can increase our homes’ resilience with simple techniques like replacing vents with fine mesh to prevent ember entry, removing attached combustible materials, and ensuring our roofs are made with Class-A materials. Taking the proven protective step of hardening homes will not only increase homes’ resilience to safely coexist with fire but also bring immense economic benefits to the state. A mature home hardening sector could potentially reach up to $116.4 billion in economic activity, support nearly 500,000 jobs, and generate $2.7 billion in tax revenue, according to the report.

Millions of Californians have been impacted by wildfires: people have been displaced, and homes and lives have been lost. According to fire hazard severity zone maps from early 2025, 620,000 to 770,000 single-family homes were at risk of wildfires in California. Improving community wildfire resilience is needed now more than ever, and experts believe we can increase our homes’ durability by employing home hardening measures. However, little information has been available on how these home hardening investments will support local and state economic development, until now.

Earth Economics’ report demonstrates that such a preparedness strategy will pay off. If all homes in wildfire hazard zones were moderately hardened, between $16 billion to $20 billion would be spent in direct expenditures.

Comparatively, the recovery costs from the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County are expected to be upwards of $76 billion to $131 billion.

“Home hardening is not only a crucial tool for improving resilience to wildfires, but it also creates economic benefits for Californians,” said Maya Kocian, executive director at Earth Economics. “If those at-risk homes were moderately hardened, the direct expenditures would ripple out through the economy positively: supporting between 74,000 to 92,500 jobs, bolstering economic growth by $10.3 billion to $13 billion, and adding $21 billion to $26.5 billion in economic activity, while protecting Californians’ homes and livelihood.”

Understanding the potential magnitude of investment required for home hardening and its economic benefits will support decisionmakers in their resilience spending priorities.

“The benefits to lives and livelihoods that home hardening brings for communities living in fire-adapted landscapes have been known for some time,” said Rita Vaughan Frost, forest advocate at NRDC. “The Earth Economics’ report reveals the real economic benefits to the California economy a mature home-hardening sector can bring. Yet only 1 percent of California’s budget goes towards home hardening. Supporting the new home hardening sector is a major opportunity for California — both for saving lives and boosting the economy as a whole.”

Resources
NRDC Issue Brief
Fireproof California’s Future: Home Hardening Will Increase Wildfire Resilience and Bring Economic Benefits

Earth Economics’ report
California’s Home Hardening Economy: Investing in a Resilient Future.

About the Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).