How often is the data updated?

We refresh all data sources quarterly. Federal sources like the Census Bureau, BLS, and BEA release data on annual or quarterly cycles; we pull the latest available each quarter.

Why does my county show a different crime rate than other sources?

We use FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data, which relies on voluntary agency reporting. Not all law enforcement agencies submit data every year, which can cause gaps or apparent discrepancies versus other sources.

How is the opportunity score calculated?

The opportunity score combines market saturation, demand signals (population growth, income growth), and business formation trajectory. A low saturation ratio (<0.7) combined with strong demand signals yields a high opportunity score for a given industry in that county.

How We Rank Counties

CountyPulse aggregates data from 25+ federal and state sources to score every county across eight pillars. Here's exactly how we do it.

Data Sources

All data comes from official government sources. We do not use proprietary or estimated data.

U.S. Census Bureau (ACS): Population, demographics, income, education attainment, housing characteristics
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS LAUS): Labor force size, employment, unemployment rate by county
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): County-level GDP, personal income, regional economic accounts
FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): Violent and property crime counts by agency, aggregated to county
Centers for Disease Control (CDC PLACES): Health outcome prevalence, chronic disease rates, preventive care access
County Health Rankings (CHR): Composite health outcome and factor rankings by county
HUD Fair Market Rents: Fair market rents by bedroom count for cost-of-living benchmarking
Census County Business Patterns (CBP): Establishment counts and employment by NAICS industry code
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages (QCEW): Wages, employment, and firm birth/death rates by industry
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI): Natural hazard risk scores by county
FCC Broadband Data: Internet coverage percentages by technology type
NCES School Districts: Per-pupil spending, student-teacher ratios, assessment scores
IRS Statistics of Income: Adjusted gross income, tax rates, and filing patterns by county
MIT Living Wage Calculator: Living wage estimates by family composition and county

The 8-Pillar Scoring System

Each county receives a score from 0–100 on each pillar, normalized against all other counties in our dataset. Pillar scores feed into the composite Pulse score.

1
P1: Demographics

Population size, growth rate, median age, education attainment, and income distribution from the ACS 5-year estimates.
2
P2: Employment

Labor force participation, unemployment rate, year-over-year labor force change, and employment stability from BLS LAUS.
3
P3: Industries

Business density, establishment growth, industry diversity, and sector concentration from CBP and QCEW.
4
P4: Economy

County GDP, personal income per capita, business formation rates, and SBA loan activity from BEA and BDS.
5
P5: Cost of Living

Living wage relative to median income, fair market rents as a share of income, and housing affordability ratios.
6
P6: Safety

Violent and property crime rates per 100,000 residents, normalized across reporting agencies.
7
P7: Education

School district per-pupil spending, student-teacher ratios, and standardized test performance from NCES.
8
P8: Health

CDC PLACES chronic disease prevalence, County Health Rankings composite score, and HRSA HPSA shortage area designations.

Saturation & Opportunity Scores

For each industry in each county, we compute a market saturation ratio and an opportunity score.

Saturation Formula

Saturation = (county_estab / county_pop) ÷ (national_estab / national_pop)

< 0.7 — Underserved market
0.7 – 1.3 — Balanced / competitive market
> 1.3 — Saturated market

Opportunity Score

The opportunity score combines three signals: market saturation (lower = better), demand signals (population and income growth), and business formation trajectory (recent firm birth/death ratio from QCEW). Counties with low saturation and strong demand signals receive the highest opportunity scores for a given industry.

Limitations

⚠ Crime data coverage: We use FBI UCR reports, but not all law enforcement agencies report consistently. Counties with partial reporting may show artificially low crime rates.
⚠ Census lag: ACS 5-year estimates are typically 1–2 years behind the current year. Rapidly changing counties may not reflect recent shifts.
⚠ CBP suppression: The Census Bureau suppresses some establishment counts to protect business confidentiality. Suppressed cells are excluded from saturation calculations.
⚠ Update cadence: We update all data quarterly from federal sources. Between updates, rankings reflect the most recently available data releases.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often is the data updated?: We refresh all data sources quarterly. Federal sources like the Census Bureau, BLS, and BEA release data on annual or quarterly cycles; we pull the latest available each quarter.
Why does my county show a different crime rate than other sources?: We use FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data, which relies on voluntary agency reporting. Not all law enforcement agencies submit data every year, which can cause gaps or apparent discrepancies versus other sources.
How is the opportunity score calculated?: The opportunity score combines market saturation, demand signals (population growth, income growth), and business formation trajectory. A low saturation ratio (<0.7) combined with strong demand signals yields a high opportunity score for a given industry in that county.