Methodology
How we match you to a city
Your questionnaire answers are compared with data on nearly 24,000 U.S. cities and towns. Each city earns points in the categories below, and your match % is its score out of the maximum possible (157 points).
Category weights
| Category | Max points | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Budget fit (home price) | 22 | Median home price vs. your budget range, plus up to 5 more for estimated monthly housing cost. |
| Climate | 20 | Your preferred climate type, winter and summer temperatures and sunshine. |
| Black community & culture | up to 18 | Scaled by how important it is to you; up to 5 more for HBCUs and cultural institutions nearby. |
| Safety | 6–14 | Weighted by your priority; based on FBI violent and property crime rates. |
| Region | 12 | Matches your chosen regions (including East Coast: Atlantic states from Maine to Florida). |
| Healthcare access | 3–10 | Hospital quality and proximity, weighted by your priority. |
| Walkability & transit | 8 + 5 | Walk score and public transit availability. |
| Natural hazard risk | 6 | FEMA National Risk Index for the county, compared with your hazard tolerance. |
| Community type | 6 | Urban, suburban, small town or rural setting. |
| Entertainment & dining | 6 | Arts, dining and nightlife scene. |
| Outdoors | 6 | Parks, trails, water and recreation. |
| Airport access | 5 | Distance to the nearest major airport. |
| Property tax | 5 | Effective property tax rate, when it matters to you. |
| State taxes | 3 | State income tax, Social Security/pension taxation and sales tax (applied when taxes are important to you). |
| Market trends | −4 to +3 | Current relocation, price and inventory trends. |
Each city card also shows a letter grade per category (Climate, Cost, Safety, Healthcare, Culture, Outdoors, Hazard risk, Taxes) so you can see where a city shines and where it trades off.
Hard filters
Focus ZIP code. If you (or anyone in your group) enters a ZIP code, only cities and towns within 30 miles of it are scored. When a ZIP code is used, political affiliation is not considered at all.
States to ignore. Any state you choose to ignore is left out completely, even when it falls inside your focus ZIP radius. In a couple or group, a state ignored by anyone is left out for everyone.
Cannabis-friendly only. If you check the cannabis-friendly box, only cities in states that allow medical and/or recreational cannabis are scored (41 states plus DC as of October 2026). In a couple or group, if anyone checks it, it applies to everyone. A blue star still marks cities in states where recreational use is legal.
Political affiliation. Without a ZIP code, choosing Democrat or Republican limits results to places where that party received at least 60% of the 2024 presidential vote in the county. “No preference” applies no filter.
Couples and groups. Only cities that pass every member's filters are considered. We first rank them on the points everyone agrees on and keep the strongest 60. Then, for each point where answers differ, we use a middle ground: the midpoint of ranked answers (leaning toward the pickier choice for priorities and toward the lower budget for money), any climate or region someone picked, and either community type. The final top 3 blends that shared profile (60%) with each person's own match, average (25%) and lowest (15%), so no one is left with a city they'd reject. The report shows what you agreed on, the middle ground used, and each person's match for every city.
Data sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (5-year estimates)
Population, age, income, race & ethnicity, home ownership, poverty
- Data USA (Census ACS data access)
City and state demographic figures (2019 and 2024)
- Data USA API
Retrieval of the ACS demographic tables
- Census Gazetteer place files
Matching each city to its Census place
- FBI Crime Data Explorer (UCR)
Violent and property crime rates per 100,000 residents
- MIT Election Data + Science Lab
County-level presidential vote shares (political filter)
- AARP
Retiree relocation trends
- HireAHelper
Migration and moving trends
- LendingTree
Home insurance and cost trends
- CNBC
Retirement and housing market news
- HouseCanary
Home price outlook
- Realtor.com Research
Housing market data and home search links
- Brookings Institution
Black migration and regional trends
- Pew Research Center
Demographic and migration research
- Zippopotam.us
ZIP code location lookup
- FEMA National Risk Index (county level)
Natural hazard risk score, rating and top hazards per county
- Tax Foundation
State income tax rates, combined state + local sales tax, retirement income taxation
- OurAirports
Nearest major (large, scheduled-service) airport and straight-line distance
- U.S. Census cartographic boundary files
Matching each city to its county
Update cadence
| Housing market & relocation trends | Reviewed monthly |
| Home values, population & demographics (Census ACS) | Yearly, when new 1-year/5-year estimates are released |
| Crime rates (FBI Crime Data Explorer) | Yearly |
| FEMA National Risk Index | Yearly, or when FEMA publishes a new release |
| State income, retirement and sales taxes (Tax Foundation) | Yearly, after each legislative season |
| County election results | After each presidential election |
| Airports | Yearly |
When data changes, members see an “Update My Report with New Data” option on their dashboard. Figures are estimates for comparison, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Or see a sample report first.