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About VenScope

Built to make city comparison honest and useful.

What we do

VenScope lets you compare US cities side by side on the things that actually affect your life: cost of living, taxes, weather, commute, schools, crime, healthcare, and more. We pull from government data sources like HUD, the Census Bureau, BLS, and EIA so the numbers mean something.

Why we built it

Most relocation tools either give you a single cost-of-living index (not that useful) or bury you in raw data with no context. We wanted something that puts all the pieces together in one place, shows you how a city fits your actual income and lifestyle, and helps you ask better questions before you commit to a move.

Data sources

We use publicly available data from the following sources:

  • US Census Bureau (ACS demographics, commute, income)
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2026)
  • Zillow ZORI (observed market rents)
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (employment, unemployment)
  • Energy Information Administration (gas prices)
  • Open-Meteo ERA5 archive (weather and climate)
  • Walk Score (walkability, transit, bike scores)
  • FEMA National Risk Index (natural disaster risk)

Data is updated on varying schedules depending on source. We note the period for each data point wherever possible.

Limitations

No dataset is perfect. FMR rents reflect government benchmarks, not always what you will see on Zillow for a specific unit. Tax estimates are approximations based on published brackets and do not account for every deduction or local nuance. Crime data varies significantly by how each city reports incidents. Use VenScope as a starting point for research, not as a final answer.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or feedback? Email us at venscope.official@gmail.com.