About

About PlainCities

A free, independent reference that turns federal city data into one clear profile for every US city and town.

Our Mission

PlainCities exists because anyone considering a move, a job change, or a major investment in a new community deserves access to reliable, multi-dimensional city data without paywalls, subjective ratings, or hidden agendas. Government agencies collect enormous amounts of data about American cities at public expense, yet accessing it typically requires navigating half a dozen different websites, decoding obscure file formats, and joining datasets that were never designed to fit together.

We believe that city data belongs to the people who live in, move to, and invest in those cities. PlainCities closes the gap between raw federal data files and the comprehensive, side-by-side city profiles that real people need to make informed decisions. We do not rank cities on a single score, because no single number captures whether a place is right for your family, your career, or your retirement. Instead, we present the data across eight dimensions and let you decide what matters most.

Our approach is deliberately transparent: every number links back to its federal source, every methodology choice is documented, and we show data gaps honestly rather than hiding them behind estimates.

Our Data Sources

PlainCities combines data from four major federal agencies to build comprehensive city profiles:

U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS)

The primary foundation of PlainCities is the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023) published by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS surveys roughly 3.5 million households annually and produces estimates for population, household income, median home values, poverty rates, educational attainment, labor force participation, age distribution, and commuting patterns for 28,000+ incorporated places and census-designated places. Unlike decennial census counts, the ACS provides rolling estimates that capture year-to-year economic and demographic changes.

The ACS 5-Year product combines five years of survey data to produce reliable estimates even for small communities. Official data is available at data.census.gov.

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program

Crime statistics come from the FBI Crime Data Explorer, which compiles agency-level crime reports submitted by over 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. We use the most recent available annual data covering violent crime (murder, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) for approximately 7,000 cities. Crime rates are calculated per 100,000 population for meaningful cross-city comparison. Data is available at cde.ucr.cjis.gov.

NOAA Climate Normals (1991–2020)

Climate data comes from the NOAA U.S. Climate Normals dataset, which calculates 30-year averages for temperature, precipitation, and snowfall from thousands of weather stations. We match climate stations to cities by geographic proximity, covering approximately 3,500 cities. These 30-year averages smooth out year-to-year variation to give a reliable picture of what weather to expect. Data is published by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

NCES Common Core of Data (CCD)

School data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data, the federal government's comprehensive annual census of all public schools and school districts. We use CCD data to count public schools within or near each city and to provide educational context. Data is available at nces.ed.gov/ccd.

How We Process the Data

Building a unified city profile from four different agencies requires significant data processing. Here is how we transform raw federal files into the profiles you see on PlainCities:

  • Parsing and normalization: We download CSV and API extracts from each agency and parse them into structured records. Geographic identifiers (FIPS place codes, state codes, county codes) are normalized so that records from Census, FBI, NOAA, and NCES can be linked to the same city.
  • Cross-agency matching: Cities are matched across databases using FIPS codes as the primary key, with geographic proximity matching as a fallback for weather stations that do not have FIPS-coded place identifiers. This gives us a multi-source profile for each city.
  • Derived calculations: We compute several derived fields including crime rates per 100,000 population, poverty rates as a percentage of total population, housing affordability ratios (home value to income), and comparison benchmarks against state and national averages.
  • Missing data handling: When data is unavailable for a city from a particular source, we display "Data not available" rather than estimating or interpolating. Coverage varies by source: Census covers nearly all places, while FBI crime data covers about 7,000 and NOAA covers about 3,500.
  • Search and ranking: Records are indexed by city name, state, and data dimensions to power search and rankings. Rankings use raw data values, not composite scores, so you can sort by any individual metric.

Data Currency

PlainCities currently displays data from the 2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (covering the period 2019–2023), the most recent FBI UCR annual release, NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, and the latest NCES CCD release. The Census Bureau publishes new ACS estimates annually, typically in September. FBI crime data is released on a rolling basis as agencies submit. NOAA Climate Normals are updated once per decade (the next update covers 2001–2030).

We update PlainCities within 30 days of each new major release. Like all federal statistical programs, there is typically a 12–18 month lag between the reference period and public release, so the most recent data reflects conditions from the prior year.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainCities is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, and NCES is transformed into readable city and neighborhood profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainCities editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from cities, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, relocation services, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which cities or neighborhoods we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations & Disclaimers

PlainCities is an informational resource. City data should be one factor among many when making relocation, investment, or career decisions. Every situation is different, and aggregate statistics cannot capture individual circumstances.

  • Geographic granularity: City-level averages can mask significant variation within a city. A city with a high median income may still have neighborhoods with very different economic conditions. For neighborhood-level data, explore our census tract profiles.
  • Crime data coverage: Not all law enforcement agencies report to the FBI UCR program, and reporting completeness varies by year. Cities without crime data are clearly marked. Crime rates should be compared within the same state for the most meaningful context.
  • Data lag: Government datasets typically lag 12–24 months behind the current period. Local conditions — housing markets, job growth, new development — may have changed significantly since the reference date.
  • Survey margins of error: ACS estimates for small cities carry larger margins of error. The Census Bureau publishes margin-of-error tables alongside estimates. For cities under 10,000 population, treat individual metrics as approximate.

PlainCities does not provide financial, legal, or professional advice. Consult qualified professionals before making decisions based on this data.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or feedback? Email us at hello@plaincities.com.

We welcome:

  • Questions about data sources or methodology
  • Reports of apparent data errors or anomalies
  • Suggestions for additional data dimensions or features
  • Media and research inquiries

PlainCities is published by ", a data intelligence company that builds free, public-interest data portals.