Methodology
Last updated: 2026-09-29
Every figure on a state, county or town page comes from one of the public sources below. Each page also lists, in its own Sources section, exactly which of these apply to that page.
Data sources
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
- Publisher
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Source
- https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
- Data year / vintage
- 2024
- Used for
- Home value, housing age, housing mix, mortgage status, occupancy/vacancy and heating-fuel figures on state, county and town pages.
- Limitations
- These are 5-year estimates with margins of error that widen for small towns; very small places can show noisy single-category figures. Very high or very low values are top-coded or bottom-coded (reported as a single boundary figure) by the Census Bureau.
U.S. Census Bureau Cartographic Boundary File (county, 500k)
- Publisher
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Source
- https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2024/shp/cb_2024_us_county_500k.zip
- Data year / vintage
- 2024
- Used for
- County boundary geometry used to compute distances for "nearby towns" links.
- Limitations
- Cartographic boundary files are generalized for mapping, not survey-grade.
Census 2020 ZCTA to County relationship file (largest land-area overlap per ZCTA)
- Publisher
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Source
- https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_county20_natl.txt
- Data year / vintage
- 2020
- Used for
- Matching a ZIP code entered in the homepage search box to the county it overlaps most.
- Limitations
- Based on the 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file; a ZIP code that spans multiple counties is matched to the county with the largest land-area overlap.
FEMA National Risk Index
- Publisher
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Source
- https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/
- Data year / vintage
- December 2025
- Used for
- The hazard rating and top-hazard figures shown on county and town pages.
- Limitations
- The National Risk Index is published at the county level, so every town in a county shows the same county figures.
U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer Files
- Publisher
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Source
- https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html
- Data year / vintage
- 2024
- Used for
- County and town names, land area and coordinates used on every state, county and town page.
- Limitations
- Names and boundaries are as of the 2024 vintage.
NAIC Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owners Insurance: Data for 2023 (published 2026)
- Publisher
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
- Source
- https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-hmr-zu-homeowners-report.pdf
- Data year / vintage
- 2023
- Used for
- The statewide average annual homeowners (HO-3) premium shown on state, county and town pages.
- Limitations
- This is a statewide average for owner-occupied HO-3 policies using 2023 data, not a quote or a premium for any specific home, town or county.
FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Policies v3
- Publisher
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA
- Source
- https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/nfip-redacted-policies-v3
- Data year / vintage
- 2026
- Used for
- The count of active National Flood Insurance Program policies shown on county and town pages.
- Limitations
- Counts are as of the dataset's snapshot date and are aggregated to the county; they do not show which towns within a county hold the policies.
Texas Department of Insurance - licensed agencies
- Publisher
- Texas Department of Insurance (TDI)
- Source
- https://data.texas.gov/d/3yqc-fcdt
- Data year / vintage
- 2026
- Used for
- The list of licensed insurance agencies shown on Texas county and town pages.
- Limitations
- Limited to agencies licensed in Texas. The list reflects TDI's licensee file and license class, not a ranking, review or endorsement by this site.
How the numbers are computed
Shares, for example the share of homes built before 1960, are one Census count divided by another, shown as a percentage. Comparisons between a town and its county, or a county and its state, are shown in percentage points (the difference between the two percentages), not as a ratio. Some Census values are top-coded or bottom-coded: the Census Bureau reports very high or very low values as a single boundary figure rather than an exact number, to protect respondent privacy; pages note this where it applies.
Known limitations
- Premiums shown are statewide HO-3 (homeowners) averages from the NAIC's 2023 data, not a quote or a premium for any specific home, town or county.
- American Community Survey figures are 5-year estimates and carry margins of error; the margin is larger for small towns, and very small places can show noisy figures.
- FEMA's National Risk Index is published at the county level, so every town in a county shows the same hazard figures as its county.
- NFIP flood-insurance-policy counts are active policies as of 2026-09-08, aggregated to the county.
- The agency list is limited to agencies licensed in Texas and reflects the state's licensee file and license data, not a ranking or endorsement by this site.
- A small town whose data would otherwise duplicate its county's figures is listed on its county page instead of getting its own page.
Update cadence
We intend to refresh each page's figures when its underlying source publishes new data. This is a statement of intent, not a fixed schedule.