What Is a Livability Score? How MoveScore Works
Published April 12, 2026 · Methodology guide
A livability score tries to answer one question: “Is this a good place to live?” Most scores combine many variables into one number. MoveScore is honest about exactly which six federal-government data streams feed the composite, and how each is weighted.
The Six Data Streams
1. Crime — FBI UCR
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program collects violent and property crime counts from local police departments. MoveScore uses both rates per 100,000 residents, normalized to a 0-100 safety score. FBI UCR →
2. Water — EPA SDWIS
The Safe Drinking Water Information System tracks violations at every regulated US water system. MoveScore aggregates violations per city and derives a water safety score. EPA SDWIS →
3. Air — EPA AQS
The Air Quality System aggregates five-year median AQI and unhealthy-day counts from EPA monitoring stations. The air grade reflects both chronic pollution and episodic unhealthy days. EPA AQS →
4. Schools — NCES + EDFacts
NCES Common Core of Data provides enrollment and demographics; EDFacts provides district-level math and reading proficiency and graduation rates. MoveScore averages these into a school sub-score. NCES →
5. Municipal Fiscal Health — Census ASPEP
The Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances reports municipal spending, revenue, and debt. MoveScore derives a fiscal score from per-capita spending and debt-service ratios. Census ASPEP →
6. Hospitals — CMS HCAHPS
Medicare’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey rates hospital patient experience nationwide. MoveScore averages star ratings across hospitals in each city. CMS HCAHPS →
The Composite Formula
- Each sub-score is normalized to 0-100, where 100 is the safest / cleanest / highest-performing percentile.
- The composite is the equal-weighted average of all available sub-scores.
- Missing sub-scores are skipped, not penalized. A city with five sources averages the five it has.
- A city needs at least three sub-scores for a composite to be published.
- Grade bands: A 80+, B 70-79, C 60-69, D 50-59, F under 50.
What MoveScore Doesn’t Measure
No livability score captures everything. MoveScore does not directly measure:
- Cost of living, housing prices, or property taxes (consult BLS CPI + Census AHS for these)
- Commute times and transit access (consult BTS / ACS commute data)
- Climate extremes, natural-disaster risk (consult NOAA / FEMA)
- Cultural amenities, nightlife, walkability (no federal source)
- Neighborhood-level variation — MoveScore is city-level, not ZIP-level
How to Use MoveScore Wisely
- Treat the composite as a filter, not a verdict. Use it to narrow 500 cities to a shortlist of 10.
- Then weight the sub-scores for your own priorities.
- Visit shortlist cities in the worst month, not the best.
- Cross-reference housing and commute data before committing.
FAQ
What is a livability score?
A livability score is a composite metric that combines multiple dimensions of life quality — safety, environment, education, infrastructure — into a single comparable number. MoveScore is specifically a composite of six federal data streams, each normalized to 0-100 and averaged with equal weight.
How is MoveScore different from other livability rankings?
MoveScore uses only federal government data sources (FBI, EPA, NCES, Census, CMS) and publishes the full formula. Most competing rankings use survey data, home price tiers, or proprietary inputs that aren't independently verifiable.
Why does equal weighting make sense?
Families differ on which dimension matters most. A 25% weight on schools is wrong for a retiree; a 25% weight on hospitals is wrong for a single remote worker. Equal weighting keeps the composite neutral, and the individual sub-scores let each reader weight their own priorities.
Composite is the equal-weighted average of up to six federal sub-scores, each normalized to 0-100.