Tiny Homes
Find counties with stronger tiny-home discovery signals, then confirm dwelling type, foundation, utilities, and code path.
County Freedom Index
Discover the Best Western Counties for Alternative Living
Research and compare county-level freedom signals across Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico for tiny homes, off-grid living, homesteading, RV living, van life, container homes, and rural land opportunities. Start with a smarter shortlist before diving into zoning, utilities, access, and parcel-level due diligence.
Start Exploring CountiesVerification boundary
Use This As A County-Level Research Shortcut
County Freedom Index helps you build a county shortlist. It does not confirm that a specific parcel can legally support a tiny home, RV, off-grid dwelling, container home, ADU, or homestead.
Live state datasets
County Freedom Research Is Expanding Across The West
Colorado is the launch dataset, Wyoming is live as the first expansion state, and New Mexico is now part of the same shared scoring and research system. Future states are planned under one platform instead of scattered single-state projects.
CO
Colorado
The launch dataset and prototype for county-level alternative living research.
- Counties
- 64
- Verified
- 64
- Top score
- 87
Wyoming
The first expansion dataset with sourced county-level research for Wyoming's rural land and alternative living audience.
- Counties
- 23
- Verified
- 23
- Top score
- 87
New Mexico
The second expansion dataset for off-grid, Earthship, homesteading, and rural land research.
- Counties
- 33
- Verified
- 30
- Top score
- 88
Planned next-state queue: Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona.
Choose a path
What Are You Researching?
Start with the path closest to your goal, then use the map, rankings, and county profiles to narrow the counties worth deeper parcel review.
RV Living
Research camping, RV duration limits, construction occupancy, sanitation, water, and permit paths before choosing land.
Off-Grid Living
Compare counties for off-grid fit using rule signals, land, climate, solar, broadband, public land, and access context.
Homesteading
Balance land affordability, growing season, solar, water, septic, access, and off-grid signals for a practical shortlist.
Cheap Land
Start with rural land price signals, then check access, water, septic, covenants, utilities, and total build cost.
Interactive map
Explore Colorado Counties
80+62-79Under 62Filtered
Compare
Compare Two Counties
Pick any two counties and jump into a side-by-side research profile.
Dataset transparency
Three Live State Datasets, One Research System
Colorado and Wyoming have complete verified county coverage, and New Mexico is live with full county coverage while the last sparse-source profiles move through final verification.
Profile research
County Rule Verification Is Built In
View profile status, citation counts, and the source trail behind the discovery dataset.
Start With County Fit
Freedom Score is a discovery ranking for comparing counties, not a promise that a specific parcel can support a specific use.
Read The Profile Notes
The score blends tiny home, RV, off-grid, land affordability, tax, solar, and broadband signals; the county notes explain the tradeoffs.
Verify Before Buying
Final decisions still need parcel-level review with county planning, zoning, sanitation, water, road access, and local professionals.
New expansion
Wyoming Alternative Living Research Is Live
Explore Wyoming county profiles, rankings, and new guides for off-grid living, RV living, tiny homes, cheap rural land, and homesteading.
Second expansion
New Mexico Alternative Living Research Is Live
Explore New Mexico county profiles and rankings for off-grid living, rural land, tiny homes, RV living, public land access, and solar potential.
Research hub
Guides For Alternative Housing Research
Browse Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico county rankings, RV living research, tiny home paths, off-grid signals, land affordability, methodology, and data transparency.
Leaderboard
Highest Freedom Scores
Top county-level discovery scores across the live Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico datasets.
#1Verified
Catron County
88Verified county-source profile based on Catron County permit letter for unincorporated zoning, county building permits, New Mexico CID construction permits, and floodplain certification.
#2VerifiedHidalgo County
88Verified county-source profile based on Hidalgo County comprehensive plan, State Records Center subdivision regulation records, and Office of the State Engineer subdivision review context.
#3VerifiedRio Arriba County
88Official first-pass rule source added from Rio Arriba County Planning and Zoning page.
#4VerifiedTorrance County
88Official first-pass rule source added from Torrance County Planning and Zoning page.
#5VerifiedSaguache County
87Top early candidate for off-grid, affordability, and alternative lifestyle research.
#6VerifiedCarbon County
87Official first-pass rule source added from Carbon County Planning and Development page.
#7VerifiedNiobrara County
87Official first-pass rule source added from Niobrara County Planning and Zoning resources.
#8VerifiedCibola County
87Official first-pass rule source added from Cibola County CID building permit signature procedure and groundwater protection ordinance.