Data Integrity & Sources

To ensure the highest level of accuracy, the Home Repair Verdict engine does not rely on crowdsourced user data or "guesstimates." We strictly utilize actuarial-grade datasets used by the insurance and construction industries.

Primary Construction Data

Material costs, equipment rental rates, and productivity baselines are derived from:

RSMeans Data from Gordian

The North American standard for construction cost engineering. We utilize their residential cost datasets to establish baseline pricing for over 45 individual repair categories, from roofing to foundation work.

Current Baseline: Q4 2025 Data (Forward projected to 2026)

Labor Market Data

Labor rates vary significantly by zip code. We normalize these using federal statistics:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

We incorporate data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program to determine prevailing wage rates for key trades (Electricians, Plumbers, Roofers, Carpenters) in each Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

Regional & Housing Data

Housing stock age and localized risk factors are cross-referenced with:

U.S. Census Bureau: American Housing Survey (AHS) data for housing age distribution.
FEMA & USGS: Regional geological and flood risk maps that influence foundation repair probabilities.

Open Data Downloads (CSV/JSON)

We publish derived MSA-level open-data files used for uniqueness and traceability in SEO pages.

CSV: metro_unique_signals_2026.csv
JSON: metro_unique_signals_2026.json

Each row includes MSA identifiers such as metro_code, metro_name, and msa_name plus risk/economic signals.

Snapshot date: February 28, 2026. Sources: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations and U.S. Census ACS 2024 5-year tables.

Data Verification ID: HRV-2026-Q1-OPEN-DATA-BETA