Frequently Asked Questions

PlainCities covers 28,702 U.S. cities and places using Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data as the foundation. Not every city has data in all categories — crime data covers ~7,000 cities, climate data covers ~3,500 cities with NOAA monitoring stations.

Each city profile includes demographics and economics (Census ACS 2023), crime rates where available (FBI UCR), climate normals where available (NOAA 1991–2020), and school counts (NCES). Categories shown depend on what data is available for that city from each federal source.

FBI crime data only covers cities that voluntarily submit annual crime statistics to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report program. Approximately 7,000 of 28,000+ cities report to the UCR. If your city doesn't appear in FBI data, we show 'Data not available' rather than displaying a zero or estimate.

Rankings use the underlying data points — not subjective scoring systems. Crime rankings use FBI-reported rates per 100,000 population. Income rankings use Census Bureau median household income. We compare cities within population tiers where appropriate (e.g., cities with 10,000+ residents) for more meaningful comparisons.

Use the Compare tool — search for any two cities and their data will appear in columns across all available dimensions: demographics, income, housing, crime (where available), climate (where available), and schools.

The core demographic data is Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (the most recent available). FBI and NOAA data have their own update schedules — crime data typically lags 1–2 years, climate normals are 30-year averages (1991–2020) updated on a decadal cycle.

No. PlainCities is an independent data portal presenting publicly available federal data. We are not affiliated with the Census Bureau, FBI, NOAA, NCES, or any government agency.