Acres Burned by Wildfires by State 2025
Key Findings
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Alaska leads in Acres Burned with 1,006,158 in 2025.
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Average Acres Burned in 2025: 198,910 · median: 159,306.
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Gap in 2025: Alaska is 32.8× larger than Georgia.
About This Dataset
Acres Burned by Wildfires by State 2025
What this chart shows. The 25 states where wildfires burned the most land in 2025, in acres. Alaska led with 1,006,158 acres, 19.6 per cent of the national total of 5,131,474, followed by California with 505,006 and Arizona with 331,638.
How the data is collected. Each fire's reported size is summed by state in the NICC annual report, which also splits the area by cause. In Alaska, 99.8 per cent of the burned area came from fires started by lightning.
Background. Nationally, 5,131,474 acres burned in 2025, 42.5 per cent less than the 8,924,884 acres of 2024, and the report puts the total more than two million acres below the five- and ten-year averages. Oklahoma, 5th, burned almost entirely in human-caused fires: lightning fires burned only 60 of its 304,120 acres.
Limits. The figures come from situation reports filed during the season, and the report notes for its fire list that such figures may not reflect final official numbers. A single very large fire can move a state several places up this ranking.
How the data is collected. Each fire's reported size is summed by state in the NICC annual report, which also splits the area by cause. In Alaska, 99.8 per cent of the burned area came from fires started by lightning.
Background. Nationally, 5,131,474 acres burned in 2025, 42.5 per cent less than the 8,924,884 acres of 2024, and the report puts the total more than two million acres below the five- and ten-year averages. Oklahoma, 5th, burned almost entirely in human-caused fires: lightning fires burned only 60 of its 304,120 acres.
Limits. The figures come from situation reports filed during the season, and the report notes for its fire list that such figures may not reflect final official numbers. A single very large fire can move a state several places up this ranking.
Analysis
Alaska burned more land than California and Arizona combined, although it reported only 465 wildfires against California's 8,951.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- National Interagency Fire Center (NICC Annual Report 2025)
- Coverage
- 25 entities · 2025 · 25 observations
- Measure
- Acres Burned
- Last updated
- 29 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2025.
An article using this data
California Had the Most Wildfires in 2025, but Alaska Burned the Most Land
NIFC data for 2025: 77,850 US wildfires burned 5,131,474 acres. California had 8,951 fires, Alaska burned 1,006,158 acres, and the Dragon Bravo Fire was the lar...
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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Each state's page lists its position in every state-by-state chart on ANYSTAT.
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