# CountyScore — The Definitive U.S. County Report Card

> CountyScore aggregates data across 8 dimensions (property taxes, cost of living, income, crime, health outcomes, schools, natural disaster risk, water quality) for every U.S. county into a single 0-100 composite score. Data from U.S. Census Bureau, FBI UCR, CDC, FEMA, NCES, and EPA. Free for all 3,143 U.S. counties.

CountyScore is the flagship hub of the ByCounty Network. Every county gets a composite score based on weighted factors from 8 vertical data sites. It is the most comprehensive county comparison tool built entirely from free U.S. government data.

## Network Sites

- [TaxByCounty.com](https://taxbycounty.com/llms.txt): Property tax rates — U.S. Census ACS
- [CostByCounty.com](https://costbycounty.com/llms.txt): Cost of living — U.S. Census ACS
- [IncomeByCounty.com](https://incomebycounty.com/llms.txt): Income and earnings — U.S. Census ACS
- [CrimeByCounty.com](https://crimebycounty.com/llms.txt): Crime rates — FBI Uniform Crime Reporting
- [HealthByCounty.com](https://healthbycounty.com/llms.txt): Health outcomes — CDC / County Health Rankings
- [SchoolsByCounty.com](https://schoolsbycounty.com/llms.txt): School quality — NCES
- [RiskByCounty.com](https://riskbycounty.com/llms.txt): Natural disaster risk — FEMA National Risk Index
- [WaterByCounty.com](https://waterbycounty.com/llms.txt): Water quality — EPA SDWIS
- [WeatherByCounty.com](https://weatherbycounty.com/llms.txt): Climate normals — NOAA NCEI
- [PropertyTaxByZip.com](https://propertytaxbyzip.com/llms.txt): ZIP-code-level property tax rates — U.S. Census ACS

## Key Resources

- [National County Rankings](https://countyscore.com/rankings/best-overall): Best overall counties in the US
- [Lowest Tax Counties](https://countyscore.com/rankings/lowest-tax): Counties with lowest property tax burden
- [Most Affordable Counties](https://countyscore.com/rankings/most-affordable): Most affordable housing relative to income
- [Highest Income Counties](https://countyscore.com/rankings/highest-income): Counties with highest median household income
- [Safest Counties](https://countyscore.com/rankings/safest): Counties ranked by safety
- [Best Counties for Families](https://countyscore.com/rankings/best-for-families): Top all-around counties for families
- [Find Your Ideal County Quiz](https://countyscore.com/quiz): Personalized county ranking based on user priorities

## Scoring Methodology

County Score (0-100) = weighted average of dimension scores, each normalized from source data. Higher scores are always better. Active dimensions: Property Tax Score, Cost of Living Score, Income Score. Dimensions activating as vertical sites launch: Safety, Health, Schools, Risk, Water.

## Data Sources

- U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2019-2023): Tax, cost of living, income
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting: Crime rates per 100K population
- CDC / County Health Rankings: Life expectancy, uninsured rates, health outcomes
- FEMA National Risk Index: Composite natural disaster risk score
- NCES: Graduation rates, per-pupil expenditure
- EPA SDWIS: Water quality violations per system

## Data Coverage

- 3,143+ US counties across all 50 states and Washington D.C.
- Data vintage: ACS 2019-2023, FBI 2022, CDC 2023-2024

## Further Reading

- [Compare Counties](https://countyscore.com/compare): Side-by-side county comparison tool
- [Browse by State](https://countyscore.com/states): Best counties ranked within each state