Frequently asked questions

BelongMaps is a web application that helps home buyers discover areas matching their unique lifestyle criteria through geographic filter overlays on an interactive map. You can filter locations based on crime rates, school quality, proximity to amenities, environmental factors, and much more.

Yes! You can explore all filters and use the map without creating an account. However, you will need an account to save your filter sets for later use.

Free users can only save their current filter set and access basic filters. Premium users get unlimited filter sets, access to all premium filters (marked with a crown icon), the Google Maps base map with satellite view, and no ads.

BelongMaps shows AREAS that match your criteria, not individual listings. The highlighted regions indicate neighborhoods where historical sale prices fall within your selected range. You need to zoom in to at least level 10 to see the filter overlay. Also remember that our pricing is based on historical sales data, which may differ significantly from current listing prices in hot markets.

Housing costs are calculated using historical sale records from public county and state deed transfer databases. We aggregate sales data at the neighborhood level (census tracts) and compute the median sale price for each area. This gives you a realistic picture of what people have actually paid for homes in different neighborhoods.

Our pricing data comes from official public records (deed transfers, property tax assessments) and is generally very accurate for what it represents: historical sale prices. However, it's important to understand that this is NOT current listing data. In rapidly appreciating markets, current prices may be 10-30% higher than our historical data suggests. Use our filters to identify promising areas, then check Zillow or Redfin for current listings.

Premium filters typically involve higher computational costs (complex geographic calculations, external API calls), ongoing data licensing fees, or require more frequent updates. The revenue from premium subscriptions helps us maintain data quality, add new features, and keep the core product free for everyone.

No. The prices shown are based on historical sale data from public records, not current listings. We use historical data because direct access to Zillow/Redfin listing prices is not available through their APIs. Historical prices provide a good proxy for affordability in an area.

We aggregate data from multiple reliable sources including government agencies (FEMA, FBI), public records, and third-party APIs. Data is cached and updated regularly. Some data points like crime rates and school quality are updated monthly, while others like flood zones are updated as official maps change.

Yes! While browsing the map, you can click on "View in Zillow" or "View in Redfin" buttons to open the current area in those platforms to see current listings.

Currently, BelongMaps covers the entire United States. We do not support international locations at this time.

You can cancel your subscription at any time through the "Manage Subscription" button on the Subscription page. Your premium access will continue until the end of your billing period.

The slider is a percentile threshold within each school's own type. Public and private schools are ranked separately, so a setting of "Top 25%" shows the top 25% of public schools AND the top 25% of private schools when both are selected — not an apples-to-apples claim about absolute quality across types. Public and private schools draw on different signals (public schools have standardized state outcome data; private schools do not), so direct cross-type comparisons are most reliable at the extremes (top few percent, bottom few percent) and less so in the middle. "Median+" shows roughly half of each population. We snap the slider to deciles (10% steps) for fast, predictable rendering.

Every public and private K-12 school in the US gets a 1-10 score composed from free public data — no paid licensing, and no school is excluded for having incomplete data (we skip the missing metric, not the school). Public schools draw on standardized state test outcomes, student-teacher ratios, and enrollment data; private schools, which have no equivalent state testing requirement, draw on accreditation status, class profiles, and other published indicators. Because the two types rest on different signals, they are scored and ranked separately rather than pooled into one list. The full breakdown — every input, its weight, how missing data is handled, and the known limitations — is documented in our methodology.

Read the full school scoring methodology

The Water Quality filter combines three EPA data sources to identify areas free from water quality hazards. It flags: (1) areas within 500 feet of impaired surface waters from EPA ATTAINS (rivers, lakes, streams on the 303(d) list), (2) areas within 1 mile of EPA Superfund/NPL contaminated sites, and (3) areas served by drinking water systems with active health-based violations (EPA SDWIS). Yellow overlay indicates safe zones not flagged by any source. Unassessed waters are assumed clean per EPA guidance. Data is refreshed quarterly (SDWIS) to biennially (ATTAINS).