For journalists, researchers, and editors
CensusEasy is an independent demographic data platform covering every US state, county, city, ZIP code, census tract, and metro area, from 1990 to today. Use anything on the site under attribution. Story ideas, methodology, and direct CSV downloads are below.
Press contact: [email protected]
Data freshness: ACS 5-year estimates updated annually in December. Population Estimates (PEP) updated annually in May. Decennial census snapshots at 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 ship as time-machine views on every place page.
Interactive map: every US tract and county, 1990 to today
The decade time machine maps every US census tract for 2024 and 2020, and every US county for 2010, 2000, and 1990. Switch years with a single click. Hover for a quick summary, click through for the full place page. Screenshots are welcome with attribution; if you need a high-res export for print, email us.
Note on the year switch: tract boundaries are redrawn each decade, so the older snapshots map at the county level. The map itself explains the switch in a small footnote.
Pitchable hooks, with the data behind them
Each link goes to the underlying ranking or study. Every page lists the full universe (every state, every county, every metro), not a top-10 slice, so you can find the angle that fits your beat.
- Every US state ranked by real-income change since 1990INCOME DRIFT STUDY
- Which cities gained the most college graduates this generationEDUCATION ATTAINMENT STUDY
- America's fastest-growing and fastest-shrinking countiesRANKINGS: POPULATION CHANGE
- The 925 metro areas, ranked by current population and growthMETRO RANKINGS
- Housing affordability: median home value vs median income, every countyRANKINGS
- Where commutes got longer, and where they got shorter, since 2000COMMUTE TIME SERIES
More angles in the Studies archive and across 266 ranking pages.
How the data is built
Current-year demographics come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, ingested directly from the Census API. Historical comparisons reach back to 1990 via the Census Bureau's own STF3A CD-ROM files, parsed and harmonized to present-day place definitions where possible.
Population trajectories use the ACS series plus the Population Estimates Program (PEP), which provides annual postcensal estimates independent of the ACS. Where dollar values are compared across years (income, rent, home values), figures are adjusted to current dollars using CPI-U. Studies disclose the deflator and base year explicitly.
Rankings always include the full eligible universe: every one of the ~6,800 US cities, every one of the ~33,000 ZIP codes, not a curated top-N. Each ranking is also materialized at every decennial snapshot it has data for (1990, 2000, 2010, 2020) plus the current year, so historical comparisons are one click away.
Studies with downloadable CSVs
Every study publishes the underlying data as a CSV alongside the piece. Open the study page and use the download link in the methodology block. Reuse permitted with attribution.
- US cities where real household income grew the most since 1990Of 843 US cities with 50,000+ residents, 593 are richer in inflation-adjusted terms than in 1990. Fulshear, TX leads at $124,408 per household.
- The least affordable US citiesThe CensusEasy Afford Score ranks US cities by the ratio of median home value to median household income. Berkeley, CA is the least affordable large city, where homes cost 13.1x the typical income.
- The fastest-gentrifying US citiesThe CensusEasy Gentrification Score ranks US cities by a decade of combined growth in real income, home values, and college degrees. Denver, CO leads the largest cities at 90.3 out of 100.
- The richest and poorest ZIP codes in GeorgiaRanking all 610 Georgia ZIP codes by median household income. 30327 leads at $189,250; 39840 sits at the bottom at $22,540.
- The richest and poorest ZIP codes in FloridaRanking all 904 Florida ZIP codes by median household income. 33109 leads at $250,000+; 32603 sits at the bottom at $13,408.
- The richest and poorest ZIP codes in New YorkRanking all 1277 New York ZIP codes by median household income. 10004 leads at $250,000+; 14605 sits at the bottom at $21,201.
- The richest and poorest ZIP codes in TexasRanking all 1452 Texas ZIP codes by median household income. 76092 leads at $250,000+; 79901 sits at the bottom at $14,872.
- The richest and poorest ZIP codes in CaliforniaRanking all 1391 California ZIP codes by median household income. 94020 leads at $250,000+; 92257 sits at the bottom at $22,611.
- US cities where homeownership fell most since 2000Wesley Chapel, Florida's owner-occupied share fell by −20.3% since 2000, the largest decline among US cities of 50,000 or more.
- US metros that grew the most since 1990Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL added +4,130,285 residents since 1990, the largest absolute metro gain in the United States.
- US states with the biggest real income gains since 1990District of Columbia leads US states with +$36,123 added to real median household income since 1990.
- US counties with the biggest high-school attainment gains since 1990Grainger County, Tennessee added +39.6% to its high-school-or-higher attainment since 1990, the largest gain of any US county of 25,000 or more.
Citation formats
CensusEasy Data Team. (2026). CensusEasy: Demographic data for every US place, 1990 to today. Retrieved 2026-07-19 from https://censuseasy.com/
CensusEasy Data Team. "CensusEasy: Demographic data for every US place, 1990 to today." Accessed 2026-07-19. https://censuseasy.com/.
Source: CensusEasy (censuseasy.com), drawing on US Census Bureau ACS and decennial data.
Individual studies carry their own citation block on the study page, with the study's own title, byline, and publication date.
When you cite us, please include a clickable link back to censuseasy.com (or to the specific study or ranking page you're quoting). It's how readers verify the numbers and how an independent shop like ours stays findable. Thank you.
About CensusEasy
Three lengths to start from. Edit to fit your piece. A clickable link back to censuseasy.com is appreciated wherever you land.
CensusEasy is an independent platform publishing US demographic data for every state, county, city, ZIP code, and census tract, from 1990 to today.
CensusEasy is an independent demographic data platform built on US Census Bureau data. It indexes every US state, county, city, ZIP code, census tract, and metro area, with comparable time series stretching from 1990 to the present. Studies under the CensusEasy Data Team byline pair the data with methodology and downloadable CSVs.
CensusEasy is an independent platform that makes US demographic data easier to read, compare, and cite. It draws on the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, decennial census, and Population Estimates Program, plus the 1990 STF3A files, to deliver comparable time series for every US state, county, city, ZIP code, census tract, and metro area. Rankings always show the full eligible universe, not a top-10 slice, and every ranking is materialized at each decennial snapshot it has data for. The CensusEasy Data Team also publishes long-form studies under the organization's byline, each one shipping with its underlying CSV and methodology.
Need a cut we haven't published?
If you're working on a story and need state, metro, county, or tract-level data we haven't surfaced on the site, email [email protected]. We'll try to prep a custom CSV within 48 hours, no charge for working journalists.