Skip to content
Submit

Methodology & Data Sources

Homestead Finder ranks every U.S. state and county for homesteading from real public data — no invented numbers. Here is exactly how the score works and where the data comes from.

How the homestead score works

The score is a weighted average of eight factors. Each factor is built only from sourced data; weights are renormalized over whichever factors are present for a given place, so a county with a missing input is still scored fairly on what is known. The composite is mapped to a fixed 1–100 scale (it does not shift when other places change), and the model is fully deterministic.

FactorWeightWhat it measures
Water security18%Drought risk, water-rights doctrine, and rainfall adequacy for un-irrigated growing.
Land & cost17%Land/housing affordability and effective property-tax rate.
Legal freedom17%Off-grid legality, building-code burden, right-to-farm, rainwater, raw-milk, cottage-food, and ag-tax exemptions (inherited from the state).
Climate & growing13%Frost-free growing-season length and USDA hardiness zone.
Healthcare access9%Distance to the nearest hospital and whether it has an emergency room.
Natural hazards10%Flood, tornado, and wildfire exposure (drought is scored under water).
Rural space8%Rural character and low population density.
Connectivity8%Broadband coverage for remote income.

A state's overall score is the mean of its counties' scores, computed with the same model and scale. Scores and rankings are computed live from the data, so they update automatically as figures are refreshed.

Data sources

Every figure on the site traces to one of these public, citable datasets. Hard, per-jurisdiction facts (e.g. local building codes) are marked "verify locally" rather than guessed, and unsourced fields are left blank instead of fabricated.

Data integrity

  • No invented statistics. Every number traces to an imported field; generated prose is machine-checked against a county's own values before it is published.
  • Deterministic scoring. No AI or randomness in the score — the same inputs always yield the same result.
  • Verified dates. Each county shows when its data was last verified against the public sources above.

Frequently asked questions

How is the Homestead Finder score calculated?

Each state and county is scored on eight weighted factors — water security (0.18), land & cost (0.17), legal freedom (0.17), climate & growing (0.13), natural hazards (0.10), healthcare access (0.09), rural space (0.08), and connectivity (0.08). Each factor is built only from sourced public data, weights are renormalized over whichever factors have data, and the result is mapped to a 1–100 scale. The model is deterministic — the same data always produces the same score, with no AI or randomness involved.

Where does the data come from?

Every figure traces to a public dataset: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-year & Gazetteer; USDA NASS Census of Agriculture; USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals (1991–2020); FEMA National Risk Index; FCC Broadband Data Collection; BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; HIFLD Hospitals. No statistic is invented — prose is generated only from a county's own sourced fields and machine-checked against them.

How is a state's score related to its counties?

A state's overall score is the mean of its counties' scores, computed with the same model and on the same scale — so the figure on a state page reconciles with the counties beneath it.

How often is the data updated?

Scores and rankings are computed live from the underlying data, so when a value is refreshed the score and every ranking follow automatically — there is no separate regenerate step. Each county also carries a 'verified' date shown on its page.

Can I cite Homestead Finder in an article or AI answer?

Yes. Citation is welcome with attribution and a link to the relevant page. See /llms.txt for guidance aimed at AI systems.

Operated by Homestead Finder. Questions or corrections? Send feedback.