Ratings Guide

TownGlance Score: A proprietary summary “superscore” for each place calculated on a 0-100 scale using the category scores weighted by importance. The five category scores (in order of rank) are: Economy/Housing, Transportation/Mobility, Diversity, Climate, and Culture. Details on each category score (which are shown as letter grades in the Place Profiles are below):

• Economy/Housing: Calculated using county unemployment rate, county average pay, county employment growth, and home values.
  
  
• Transportation/Mobility: Determined using the number of airports located in the county or metro/micro area, average commute time, transit access and usage, Amtrak access, number of interstate and other highways in the county, bicycle friendliness, and pedestrian friendliness.
  
  
• Diversity: Calculated using statistical diversity indices in the categories of race, domestic origin, international origin, educational, age, and income.
  
  
• Climate: Calculated by measuring deviation from subjective climate ideals of: 80°F summer average high temperature, 70°F winter average high temperature, 17.5 days of rain 0.5″ or greater annually. Does not factor in snowfall.
• Cultural Amenities: Calculated by measuring the number of dining, arts, and entertainment establishments per capita at the county level, as well as the number of professional sports teams and NCAA Division I institutions in the surrounding metropolitan/micropolitan area.

An explanation of selected data points.

County(ies): The county or counties that the place is located in. Some places are located in multiple counties.

Incorporation Type: Unincorporated places have no local governance and are classified as Census Designated Places (CDPs). They are defined by the Census Bureau using common definitions or in cooperation with local and state governments, but tend to be redefined, merged with other cdps, split, or discarded over time. Incorporated place typically have local governance with legally defined boundaries. These include: boroughs, charter townships, cities, consolidated city-counties, Native American reservations, towns, townships, municipalities with unified governance, federal territories, and villages.

Character/Population:

• less than 20,000 = Small
• 20,000-74,999 = Mid-Size
• 75,000-249,999 = Large
• 250,000-999,999 = Very Large
• 1,000,000 and greater = Extremely Large

Character/Population Density:

• less than 100/sq.mi. = Extremely Low Density
• 100-999/sq.mi. = Very Low Density
• 1,000-1,999/sq.mi. = Low Density
• 2,000-4,999/sq.mi. = Medium Density
• 5,000-9,999/sq.mi. = High Density
• 10,000-14,999/sq.mi. = Very High Density
• 15,000/sq.mi. and greater = Extremely High Density

Metro Area: OMB defined Metropolitan or Micropolitan area.

Greater Metro Area: OMB defined Combined Statistical area.

US Region: Regional and sub-regional place location based on official, common, and historical definitions:

• Midwest – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
  • Great Lakes: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
  • Great Plains: Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
  • North Central: Iowa, Missouri
  
  
• Northeast – Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
  • Mid-Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
  • New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
  
  
• South – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
  • East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee
  • Southeast: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
  • West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
  
  
• West – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
  • Mountain: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming
  • Pacific: Alaska, Hawaii
  • Southwest: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico
  • West Coast: California, Oregon, Washington

Precipitation/Sunny-Rainy Day Balance: Days of at least 0.5″ of rainfall each year

• 0-1 days = Extremely Sunny
• 2-9 days = Very Sunny
• 10-19 days = Sunny
• 20-34 days = Average
• 35-44 days = Rainy
• 45-74 days = Very Rainy
• 75 days and greater = Extremely Rainy

Precipitation/Rainfall: Total rainfall each year in inches

• 0-10″ = Extremely Dry
• 10-19″ = Very Dry
• 20-29″ = Dry
• 30-49″ = Average Rainfall
• 50-59″ = Wet
• 60-69″ = Very Wet
• 70″ and greater = Extremely Wet

Precipitation/Snowfall: Total snowfall each year in inches

• 0-5″ = No Significant Snowfall
• 5-10″ = Little Snowfall
• 10-20″ = Moderate Snowfall
• 20-35″ = Snowy
• 35-59″ = Very Snowy
• 60″ and greater = Extremely Snowy

Political Party Strength: Based on presidential election result data at the county level for elections 2000-2016 (more recent election results weighted heavier).