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Rating Engine

Build a custom scoring model for the geography you are analyzing. The rating engine takes the data fields that matter to you, weights them by how much each one counts, and returns every selected ZIP, county, or tract in the selected state ranked from best fit to worst.

Building a model​

Each attribute in your model has three settings:

  • Field - the data column to score (median listing price, hospital access, school district count, broadband coverage, etc.)
  • Weight - how much this attribute contributes to the overall score relative to the others in your model.
  • Direction - whether higher values are better (H) or lower values are better (L).

You can add as many criteria as you want (depending on your plan).

How scoring works​

Scores are percentile-based. Each area is ranked against other areas at the same selected geography level in the selected state for each active attribute, and those ranks are combined using your weights into a final score out of 100.

This approach means:

  • Scores compare areas at the same geography level to each other, not to a fixed scale.
  • Outliers don't skew the distribution.
  • A score near 100 means top-ranked across your criteria for that state; near 0 means bottom-ranked.

Coverage​

Not every data field has a value for every geography level or every area. When an area is missing data for one of your active criteria, that attribute is skipped for that area's score.

Each result shows coverage: how many of your active criteria had usable data for that area. Low coverage means the score is based on fewer inputs - use it as context, not as a reason to automatically dismiss a result.

The rating engine also shows data confidence for fields and models. Confidence combines source age, mixed ages, modeled geography, and area coverage so you can audit why a score exists.

Saved engines​

Your rating engines are saved to your account. You can maintain multiple engines - one for a relocation search, another for a client, another for a different market.

  • Save updates the currently open engine.
  • Save As creates a new engine from the current configuration.
  • Default sets which engine opens first when you return to the app.

Your plan determines how many engines you can save simultaneously.

Results ordering​

Results sort by score, highest first. Ties break consistently by area ID, so exports and the on-screen list always appear in the same order.

Map score filters​

After calculating a model, you can add a score threshold filter from the rating controls. The filter hides map scores below your chosen value, keeps scores equal to the threshold visible, and updates when you rerun the model.