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    Kurby Score Methodology

    How we calculate the Kurby Score — a transparent, data-driven livability rating for any neighborhood in the United States.

    How It Works

    The Kurby Score is a composite livability rating from 0 to 100. It aggregates data from 7 weighted categories — each measuring a different dimension of what makes a neighborhood a great place to live. The final score is a weighted average of all categories that have available data.

    The 7 Scoring Categories

    Affordability & Cost of Living

    20% weight

    Measures how affordable a neighborhood is relative to local incomes. Considers the home price-to-income ratio, median rent, HUD affordability index, and electricity rates.

    Data Sources

    U.S. Census ACSHUDEIA

    Lower housing costs relative to income and utilities produce higher scores. A score of 50 means costs are near the national average.

    Walkability & Transit

    15% weight

    Evaluates how easy it is to get around without a car. Combines walk score, bike score, and transit score into a single mobility rating.

    Data Sources

    Walk Score API

    Higher scores mean more amenities within walking distance and better transit access. A score of 0 is valid for truly car-dependent areas.

    Safety

    15% weight

    Assesses neighborhood safety using violent and property crime rates per 100,000 residents, calibrated against national FBI UCR averages.

    Data Sources

    FBI UCRLocal Police Data

    Lower crime rates produce higher scores. The national average scores roughly 50. A zero crime rate is treated as missing data.

    Environment

    15% weight

    Evaluates environmental quality and natural hazard risk. Includes air quality (AQI), EPA hazardous sites, noise levels, climate risk, and FEMA flood zone status.

    Data Sources

    EPAFEMADOT Noise MapClimate Risk Data

    Climate risk and flood zones are weighted 2x because they represent catastrophic risks. Lower hazard exposure produces higher scores.

    Housing Market

    15% weight

    Gauges the health and stability of the local housing market using homeownership rates, vacancy rates, and effective property tax rates.

    Data Sources

    U.S. Census ACSProperty Tax Records

    Higher homeownership, lower vacancy, and lower tax rates indicate a stable housing market and produce higher scores.

    Education

    10% weight

    Measures the educational attainment of the community and access to schools. Uses the percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree or higher and the number of nearby schools.

    Data Sources

    U.S. Census ACSNCES School Data

    More educated residents and more nearby school options produce higher scores. The national average is about 33.7% with a bachelor's degree.

    Economy

    10% weight

    Reflects the economic health of the area through unemployment rates (local and county-level) and poverty rates.

    Data Sources

    BLSU.S. Census ACS

    Lower unemployment and poverty rates produce higher scores. National averages are roughly 3.7% unemployment and 12.4% poverty.

    Grade Scale

    Every Kurby Score maps to a letter grade for quick interpretation:

    A+

    Excellent

    90 - 95

    A

    Excellent

    80 - 89

    B+

    Good

    70 - 79

    B

    Good

    60 - 69

    C+

    Fair

    50 - 59

    C

    Fair

    40 - 49

    D

    Below Average

    30 - 39

    F

    Poor

    0 - 29

    Why the Maximum Score Is 95

    Individual category scores are capped at 95 out of 100. No neighborhood is perfect, and a score of 100 would imply flawless data — which doesn't exist. The cap also prevents outlier data from producing misleadingly perfect ratings.

    Data Confidence

    Not every address has data for all 7 categories. The Kurby Score handles missing data transparently:

    • Minimum 3 categories with data are required to display a score at all.
    • 3–4 categories produce a score with a "Limited Data" badge, indicating lower confidence.
    • 5+ categories produce a full-confidence score with no caveats.

    The overall score is computed as a weighted average of only the categories that have data. Missing categories are excluded from both the numerator and denominator, so the score remains fair regardless of data availability.

    Data Sources

    Every Kurby Score is built from verified public data:

    • U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for demographics, income, housing, education
    • FBI — Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program for violent and property crime rates
    • EPA — Environmental hazard data and air quality index
    • FEMA — Flood zone maps and Special Flood Hazard Areas
    • Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local and county-level unemployment rates
    • HUD — Housing affordability index
    • Walk Score — Walk, bike, and transit scores
    • NCES — National Center for Education Statistics for school data
    • DOT — National Transportation Noise Map
    • EIA — Energy Information Administration for electricity rates

    Data Freshness

    Census and BLS data are updated annually when new ACS and employment estimates are released. Crime data follows FBI UCR publication schedules. Environmental data (EPA, FEMA) is updated as agencies publish new assessments. Walk Scores are fetched in real-time from the Walk Score API. National averages used for comparison benchmarks are recalibrated annually.

    See It in Action

    Enter any U.S. address to get a full Kurby Score breakdown with category-by-category analysis.

    Try Kurby Score