# SkaldMaps Full LLM Context

SkaldMaps is a web-based geography research tool for comparing U.S. ZIP codes, counties, and census tracts. It combines map overlays, filters, side-by-side comparison, and a custom rating engine so users can rank areas by their own criteria instead of relying on generic top-10 lists.

## Product Purpose

SkaldMaps helps people make serious location decisions with housing, affordability, schools, commute, healthcare access, broadband, weather, voting, market, and demographic data in one map workflow. The product is decision support. It does not tell people where they should or should not live.

## Agent Resources

SkaldMaps publishes public discovery resources at https://skaldmaps.com/developers/, https://skaldmaps.com/llms.txt, https://skaldmaps.com/llms-full.txt, and https://skaldmaps.com/openapi.json. The OpenAPI document is a catalog of those public resources; SkaldMaps does not offer a public application API for third-party use.

SkaldMaps is an area-research step before a property search, not a live listing marketplace. A common workflow is to shortlist ZIP codes, counties, or tracts in SkaldMaps and then use Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, an MLS, or a local professional to evaluate current homes.

The alternatives library separates two different search intents. NeighborhoodScout, Niche, and AreaVibes guides rank location-research products by the job each one does best. Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin guides compare actual listing portals first, then introduce SkaldMaps as the upstream area-research step.

## Audience

- Home buyers and households comparing places to live.
- Realtors and advisors building repeatable client shortlists.
- Investors and analysts screening markets, affordability, access, and local context.
- Researchers who need practical ZIP, county, and tract-level data exploration.

## Core Workflow

1. Choose a state and geography level: ZIP, county, or tract where the plan and data support it.
2. Explore the map with data overlays.
3. Apply filters for affordability, schools, weather, access, commute, broadband, or custom location distance.
4. Compare selected areas side by side.
5. Build a rating engine by choosing criteria, setting weights, and choosing whether higher or lower values are better.
6. Review ranked results with coverage and data confidence context.

## Data Confidence

SkaldMaps shows data confidence medals to help users audit source age, coverage, mixed source years, and modeled geography. Gold means fresh enough, well covered, and not materially modeled for the selected geography. Silver is generally useful but should be reviewed. Bronze means key inputs are old, sparse, missing, or materially modeled. Confidence is an audit signal, not an automatic yes/no rule.

## Rating Engine

Scores are percentile-based within the selected state and geography level. Each active attribute ranks areas against comparable areas, then combines those ranks using the user's weights. Missing values are skipped for that area's criterion, and result coverage shows how many active criteria contributed.

## Pricing and Access

- Free: A shiny first look at SkaldMaps with real ZIP data and a small saved rating engine. Price: $0/month.
- Starter: For a household comparing places to live in one state. Price: $15/month.
- Pro: For national ZIP and county screening with broader data access and reusable workflows. Price: $39/month.
- Expert: For full-depth national screening across ZIPs, counties, and tracts. Price: $79/month.

## Responsible Use

SkaldMaps is designed for lawful, fair, non-discriminatory research. Users set criteria and interpret the results. SkaldMaps should not be used to discriminate, steer, exclude, or make prohibited housing decisions.

## Blog and Updates

- Blog: https://skaldmaps.com/blog/
- Newsletter: https://skaldmaps.com/newsletter/

- RSS: https://skaldmaps.com/feed.xml

## Primary Links

- Home: https://skaldmaps.com/
- Use cases: https://skaldmaps.com/use-cases/
- Research: https://skaldmaps.com/research/
- Alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/
- See it in action: https://skaldmaps.com/see-it-in-action/
- Pricing: https://skaldmaps.com/pricing/
- FAQ: https://skaldmaps.com/faq/
- Ethics: https://skaldmaps.com/ethics/
- Docs: https://skaldmaps.com/docs/
- Data Confidence: https://skaldmaps.com/docs/data-confidence
- Rating Engine: https://skaldmaps.com/docs/rating-engine
- Column Reference: https://skaldmaps.com/docs/reference/columns
- App: https://app.skaldmaps.com/
- Website sitemap: https://skaldmaps.com/sitemap-index.xml
- Docs sitemap: https://skaldmaps.com/docs/sitemap.xml

## Alternatives Guides

- NeighborhoodScout alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/neighborhoodscout/
- Niche alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/niche/
- AreaVibes alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/areavibes/
- Zillow alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/zillow/
- Realtor.com alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/realtor-com/
- Redfin alternatives: https://skaldmaps.com/alternatives/redfin/