Maybe it has to do with how much we seem to move from place to place, but I’ve always been interested in population and demographics data. As much as stereotypes should be avoided, the collection and analysis of cold, hard data is often surprisngly accurate when it comes to trying to get a feel for what a community is like without ever being there.

I use all the online tools I can every time we move and so far I’m doing pretty good at with my virtual scouting reports.

One great site to score a quick community snapshot (in numbers, of course) is Sperling’s Best Places. The site seems to be pretty good about keeping the info relevant and accurate. Of course nothing is 100%. According to their info for my neck of the woods, the median home value is $183,900. I suppose that it could be accurate, but as someone who’s just beginning to look at the housing market in the area – that number seems a little on the low side.

They list the median household income around here as more than $77,000 – no wonder I feel poor. Other than that, the info seems pretty spot on.

But I digress, digging up info like this is fun to me for some odd reason and with as much as we’ve tended to bounce around the country the last few years, it can be quite useful too. Some other sites I like to nose around:

Claritas – pop your zip code in there and see how quickly your community is broken down into a handful of stereotypes. The info is dated, but I still find it to be one of the funnest of these types of sites to blow time with.

City Data – often seems like dated info, but there are forums. Nice current, human takes on various communities around the United States.

ePodunk – little unique info, but a great resource for pointing you towards tons of external info.

There are lots of others, but those four cover all the essential bases – useful, entertaining, real world feedback and resources. Good for wasting time, being nosy or planning a move…we all win.