All demographic data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates (2022). This is the most comprehensive and reliable source for neighborhood-level demographic information in the United States.
Census tract boundaries are obtained from Census TIGER/Line shapefiles, which define the geographic areas for which demographic data is collected. Each tract typically contains 1,200-8,000 people.
Historical population data uses TIGER Crosswalk files to map 2010 Census tract boundaries to 2020 boundaries, ensuring accurate growth calculations despite changing geographic definitions.
To handle extreme outliers, we use the 5th and 95th percentiles as minimum and maximum values instead of absolute min/max. This prevents a single anomalous tract from skewing the entire color scale.
Each metric is scored from 1 (worst) to 10 (best) based on where it falls within the percentile range. Negative metrics like poverty rate are inverted so lower values score higher.
Tracts are scored only on available data—missing metrics don't penalize the score. You can adjust each metric's weight using the multiplier sliders (×0.5 to ×1.5). The final score is a weighted average:
Tracts with no enabled metrics are colored gray. This visually distinguishes areas without data from areas with poor scores.
Final scores are divided into 10 equal groups (deciles), each assigned a color from red (lowest) to green (highest). This ensures the full color spectrum is used even when score ranges are narrow.
When you search for a location, only census tracts within your selected radius (5-100 miles) are scored and colored. This creates a localized comparison—a tract scoring 10/10 is in the top 10% of nearby areas, not nationwide.
Because scoring is relative to your search radius, a "green" (high-scoring) tract in Chicago may not be directly comparable to a "green" tract in Atlanta. Each location is scored against its local market, not a national baseline. This means the tool excels at identifying the best neighborhoods within a specific metro area, but cross-market comparisons should be made cautiously by reviewing the underlying demographic data rather than relying solely on colors.
Future Enhancement: We plan to add a nationwide scoring mode that will enable direct comparisons across different metropolitan areas.
The 1-mile, 3-mile, and 5-mile radius statistics are population-weighted averages of all census tracts whose centroids fall within the specified distance from your selected location.
Avg Income = Σ(tract income × tract population) / Σ(tract population)
This weighting ensures larger tracts don't get disproportionate influence in the averages.
Last Updated: December 2024 | Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2022 5-Year Estimates