Included
First-party scores and indexes, public context fields, confidence labels, citation counts, geographic identifiers, and links back to the current county profiles.
Public research dataset
U.S. County Freedom Dataset
Download a national county-level summary of County Freedom Index scores, lifestyle signals, confidence labels, demographics, climate, connectivity, and canonical county profile links. Use it to compare where to research next, not to approve a parcel.
County records3,143
States50
Verified164
Sourced discovery2,979
Citations in profiles54,729
Download
Public County Summary
Version county-summary-2026-08-04. The two files contain the same county rows. CSV is convenient for spreadsheets; JSON preserves field names and dataset notes for software and research workflows.
Download CSV3,143 rows · spreadsheet-readyDownload JSONIncludes dataset notes and field valuesExplore StatisticsNational distributions and focused county tablesReview Score SensitivityFormula concentration, floors, fallbacks, and state variationBrowse State SnapshotsCoverage, score variation, citations, and publication statusReview Field ProvenanceSources, transformations, cadence, and limitations
Scope
Built For County Comparison
The public summary is deliberately narrower than the full research system. It makes stable comparison fields easier to cite while keeping source detail on the county pages.
Not Included
Raw land-listing prices, active marketplace inventory, full citation URLs and notes, parcel data, legal conclusions, or claims that a housing use is approved.
Data dictionary
What The Fields Mean
| Group | Fields | Scale | Research use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | State, county, FIPS, region, profile URL | Text | Stable geographic identifiers and the canonical County Freedom Index profile link. |
| Confidence | Data quality, research confidence, citation count | Labels / count | Shows how much source review supports the county profile. It does not confirm a parcel. |
| Freedom Score | County Freedom Index Score | 0-100 | Weighted discovery score for comparing alternative-living and rural-land signals. |
| Lifestyle indexes | Housing, off-grid, homestead, connectivity | 0-100 | Composite comparison indexes built from the published county inputs and methodology. |
| Housing signals | Tiny home, RV living, off-grid, container home, ADU | 1-5 | County-level discovery scores that still require current local and parcel review. |
| Infrastructure | Solar potential, broadband availability | 1-10 | County-centroid or county-level planning proxies, not address-level guarantees. |
| Public land | Public-land access score | 1-5 | Recreation and access context, not a parcel boundary, legal-access, or trailhead determination. |
| Population | Population, population density | Count / sq. mi. | County-level demographic context used for rural comparison. |
| Climate | Growing season, precipitation, snowfall, temperature | Days / inches / °F | County-level climate context that can vary substantially within a county. |
| Taxes | Property tax rate | Percent | County-level effective-rate context, not a parcel tax estimate. |
Confidence
Read The Label Before The Score
Stronger official county and public-source coverage supports county-level comparison. Parcel approval is still unconfirmed.
Useful public sources support first-pass screening, but local-rule depth or confirmation remains incomplete.
The county is present for national coverage, while important source or review gaps remain visible.
View coverage by state (50)
Citation and reuse
Link Back To The Dataset And County Profile
Suggested citation: County Freedom Index, County Freedom Index Public County Summary, version county-summary-2026-08-04, accessed with the current county profile and methodology. The download does not transfer rights to underlying public or third-party sources, which retain their own terms and attribution requirements.
Dataset last reviewed: 2026-08-04. Scores may change as source coverage improves.