The frequency and cost of billion-dollar wildfires have increased in the USA

Climate Central, which conducts research on climate change and its effects, published data on forest fires that caused at least $1 billion in damage in the USA.

The data revealed that the frequency and costs of billion-dollar wildfires have increased markedly over time.

Accordingly, when comparing the 2007-2026 period with the 1987-2006 period, the number of billion-dollar forest fires in the USA increased from 5 to 26.

The total cost of these fires increased from 15.6 billion dollars to 170 billion dollars.

Billion-dollar wildfires ranked third in both frequency and cost compared to other types of disasters in the 2016-2025 period.

While 22 forest fires were recorded during the said period, the total cost was 162 billion dollars.

Severe storms ranked first in terms of frequency, and tropical cyclones ranked first in terms of cost.

Damages caused by billion-dollar forest fires were concentrated in the western United States and especially in the state of California.

California has been affected by 23 billion-dollar wildfires since 1980. This number accounted for 74 percent of the total billion-dollar wildfires across the country.

The total cost of billion-dollar wildfires in California since 1980 has reached $167 billion.

The five costliest wildfires in U.S. history all occurred in California. All but one of these fires occurred in the last 10 years.