Data sources and licensing

Source guide · updated July 28, 2026

Every metro report lists the exact sources present in that build. The following providers form the common sitewide foundation. Links lead to the original publisher, where users can review documentation, revisions and applicable license terms.

Core nationwide sources

• U.S. Census Bureau ACS — population, income, housing, education, demographics, commuting and utilities.
• Census TIGER and cartographic boundaries — tract, place, county and water geometry.
• CDC PLACES — modeled local health estimates.
• Redfin Data Center — aggregated housing-market measures by ZIP; no listing-level records are republished.
• Urban Institute Education Data and NCES/EDFacts — school directory and performance data.
• OpenStreetMap contributors — roads, transit, parks, public facilities and food/drink locations under ODbL.
• U.S. EPA ECHO and TRI — regulated facilities, compliance records and reported chemical releases.
• FEMA National Risk Index — tract-level natural-hazard risk components.

Local and regional sources

Some metros add state assessment systems, fire-hazard maps, police incident feeds, city open-data portals, Eviction Lab records or Legistar legislative records. These layers appear only where the source is usable and are named on that metro's report. Absence of a local layer means “not available,” not zero activity.

Reuse and attribution

The site combines sources with different terms. Users downloading a CSV or reusing a layer are responsible for following the original publisher's license and attribution requirements. The site's organization and presentation do not replace or relicense third-party source records.