Our data
The Data
Where CensusFlow’s numbers come from — in plain English — and how we turn them into city pages.
Three public sources
U.S. Census LODES — who commutes where
The Census Bureau’s LEHD Origin–Destination data links the Census block where each worker lives to the block where they work. It powers our commute-flow maps, workforce counts, and home–work distances.
American Community Survey (5-Year) — the lived-in numbers
The ACS gives the texture of a place: median household income, home value, and rent; demographics; the mean commute time behind our Commute Score; and the work-from-home share.
FCC National Broadband Map — internet options
The FCC’s address-level serviceability data tells us which providers actually serve each city — the basis for the top internet options on every city page.
How we turn it into city pages
- Block → city. We roll millions of block-level job flows up to Census places (the city proper, not the metro).
- Cross-state commuters counted. People who live in one state and work in another (NJ→NYC, MD/VA→DC) are counted in the city they live in — not dropped.
- Honest distances. Straight-line home–work distance, excluding work-in-the-same-city (~0 mi) and 200-mile data artifacts (a 60-mile cap).
- Commute Score. Each city’s real ACS mean commute time mapped to an absolute 0–100 — so congested metros score low and quick-commute towns score high.
- Work from home. The ACS share of a city’s residents who work from home.
- Internet. Residence-weighted FCC coverage, ranked to each city’s real top providers.
Want the exact formulas and caveats? See the Methodology.