DocsData & methodology
Data sources & receipts
A report reads 30 datasets. Most are federal and free; three are commercial and paid. Every number shown carries its receipt: the source it came from and the date it was read.
Every dataset
“Where covered” sources exist only in some places: a county that publishes its parcel layer, a city whose zoning layer or code has been read. Everywhere else the report says the item isn’t on record.
Federal
| Publisher · dataset | Feeds | Read |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Census Bureau Geocoding Services | Address match, coordinates, state and county | Every report |
| U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey | Tract income, population, home value, rent | Every report |
| U.S. Census Bureau / CDFI Fund Opportunity Zone tracts | Opportunity Zone designation | Every report |
| FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer | Flood zone, floodway, base flood elevation, share of the lot in an SFHA | Every report |
| USGS Seismic Design Maps | Seismic design category and peak ground acceleration | Every report |
| USGS 3D Elevation Program | Ground slope, elevation, aspect | Every report |
| USDA Forest Service Wildfire Risk to Communities | Wildfire hazard potential | Every report |
| USDA NRCS SSURGO soil survey | Soil series, dwelling and septic limitation ratings, bedrock and water table depth | Every report |
| USFWS National Wetlands Inventory | Wetland on the parcel and wetland adjacency | Every report |
| EPA Map of Radon Zones | County radon zone | Every report |
| EPA Community water system boundaries | Who serves water here, or a private-well flag | Every report |
| FCC National Broadband Map | Block-resolution broadband availability, fiber, provider count | Every report |
| HUD Qualified Census Tracts 2026 | LIHTC qualified census tract | Every report |
| HUD Difficult Development Areas 2026 | LIHTC difficult development area | Every report |
| HUD Low/Mod Income Summary Data | Block group low/mod income share and margin of error | Every report |
| HUD CDBG activity | CDBG-funded projects within a mile | Every report |
| U.S. Treasury Opportunity Zones 2.0 eligibility | Eligibility for nomination as a 2027 Opportunity Zone | Every report |
| NOAA National Weather Service Active alerts | Weather alerts in force at the parcel | Every report |
| NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation frequency | Design storm depths used for drainage | Every report |
| National Park Service National Register of Historic Places | Historic listings on and near the parcel | Every report |
Research
| Publisher · dataset | Feeds | Read |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Drought Monitor (NDMC with USDA and NOAA) Drought classification | Current drought status | Every report |
| National Zoning Atlas District permissions | Housing types allowed by right in the district | Where covered |
Open data
| Publisher · dataset | Feeds | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo (open-source weather API) Forecast, historical archive and air quality | Conditions now, the last 30 days against normal, the forecast, seasons, air quality | Every report |
| OpenStreetMap Overpass extract | Utility proximity, schools, amenities, nearby lines and rail, road frontage from the parcel ring | Every report |
Local government
| Publisher · dataset | Feeds | Read |
|---|---|---|
| County assessors Published parcel layers | Parcel ring, APN, owner, acreage — tried before any paid parcel call | Where covered |
| Municipal GIS Zoning layers | Zoning district identity, and the districts a split-zoned ring intersects | Where covered |
| Jurisdictions Published zoning ordinances | Dimensional standards — height, FAR, coverage, setbacks, minimum lot — quoted and cited to the section | Where covered |
Commercial
| Publisher · dataset | Feeds | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Regrid Parcel records | Parcel ring, legal description, assessed and land value, sale, tax, buildings, school district | Every report · paid |
| RentCast Property records, AVM and comparables | Structure, tax, assessment, last sale, valuation, rent, comparable sales | Every report · paid |
| ATTOM Parcel and AVM Detail | Valuation where RentCast has none, and parcel identity where Regrid fails | Fallback only · paid |
Failures and empties
Every source is called the same way, and the result says which of three things happened:
live- The source answered with data. The value is shown with its receipt.
unavailableno error- The source answered and affirmatively has nothing here: no polygon at the point, no record for the parcel. Shown as “not on record”.
unavailablewith an error- The source failed or timed out (each call is time-boxed). Shown as a failed read, never as an empty one, and never as a passing value.
estimated- A neutral assumption where the record is silent. Today this is the zoning factor when no district is on record, and it is labelled as such.
An empty is not a pass
No FEMA polygon at a point is not Zone X. No wetland on the inventory is not a delineation. The product keeps “the source says none” and “the source didn’t answer” apart all the way to the screen.
Receipts
Each finding in a report is labelled with how much it can be trusted, and the label can only go down, never up:
| Label | Means |
|---|---|
| Official record | Read from the publishing agency’s own dataset. |
| From the law | Quoted from the zoning ordinance, with its section. |
| Estimate | A model or an assumption, such as an automated valuation. |
| Claimed | Reported by a source that doesn’t establish it for this parcel, such as utility proximity. |
| Not known yet | No source has answered. |
Beside each finding: the source name (linked when the source has a public URL), “read” and the date, and the resolution when it is coarser than the parcel. Radon, for example, is marked as a county-wide rating.
Freshness
- A fresh report queries its sources live at the time you run it.
- The free Score is cached for 7 days per address, so repeat lookups are instant.
- Agencies publish on their own schedules. A FEMA map revision or a zoning amendment can take weeks to reach the published dataset, and the read date tells you which version you’re looking at.
- A stored parcel keeps the values it was read with. Re-run a report to read today’s records.
Parcel identity
Most errors in property data are identity errors: the right facts about the wrong lot. Buildability resolves the parcel first and checks every geocoder answer against the address you typed, because a geocoder will confidently answer for a different house. It never draws a parcel outline of its own: you see the real recorded outline, or a pin.
How each finding turns into the Score is on The Score; what none of these sources can tell you is on Accuracy & limits.
Didn’t find it? The Help Center answers account and billing questions, and Geo answers questions about a specific parcel inside the app.