research guides for home services & more

About our data

Where every number on this site comes from, and what we leave out.

Method

Local figures are pulled by script from the public datasets below (last pull Sep 28, 2026). Storm reports are counted within 10 miles of each city's Census internal point. Figures are shown as published; when a figure isn't available for a city, the page leaves it out rather than estimating it.

We don't publish local price ranges. Until we have sourced local job-cost data, any number we printed would be a guess.

Rankings like “3rd-highest of the 14 suburbs we cover” compare only the Kansas City–area suburbs on this site, not all of Missouri.

Sources

  1. Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance Program — FloodSmart — flood insurance basics (standard homeowners policies do not cover flood damage)
    https://www.floodsmart.gov/ · link pending verification
  2. Federal Emergency Management Agency — Flood Zones (FEMA glossary) — zones beginning with A or V are high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas; zones B, C and X are moderate-to-low risk; zone D is undetermined
    https://www.fema.gov/about/glossary/flood-zones · link pending verification
  3. Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification — ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration (water categories 1–3)
    https://iicrc.org/s500/ · link pending verification
  4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home — dry water-damaged areas and items within 24–48 hours to prevent mold growth
    https://www.epa.gov/mold/brief-guide-mold-moisture-and-your-home · link pending verification
  5. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — Repairing Aluminum Wiring (Publication 516) — aluminum branch-circuit wiring in homes built roughly 1965–1973
    https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/516.pdf · link pending verification
  6. NOAA / National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center — Storm Prediction Center FAQ — severe hail is 1 inch in diameter or larger
    https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/ · link pending verification
  7. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program — City and Town Population Totals, Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025 estimates)
    https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025.csv · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
  8. U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division — 2025 Gazetteer Files — Places, Missouri
    https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_29.txt · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
  9. U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division — 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5) to Place Relationship File
    https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
    ZCTAs approximate USPS ZIP Codes. Listed: ZCTAs with ≥25% of their land inside the city, or holding ≥10% of the city’s land.
  10. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information — Storm Events Database, 2016–2025 (details files)
    https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/swdi/stormevents/csvfiles/ · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
    Point reports counted within 10 miles of each city's Census internal point. Reports depend on spotters and observers, so counts partly track where people live. Hail size in inches; wind converted from knots to mph. Winter and heat events are reported by NWS forecast zone (named for the county).
  11. Federal Emergency Management Agency — NFIP Redacted Claims (OpenFEMA dataset, v3 — FimaNfipClaims v2 retired 2026-10-15)
    https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/nfip-redacted-claims-v3 · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
    National Flood Insurance Program claims by reported ZIP code. Covers flood-insured losses only — burst pipes, appliance leaks and roof leaks are not NFIP claims. ZIP areas can extend past city limits.
  12. Federal Emergency Management Agency — Disaster Declarations Summaries (OpenFEMA dataset, v2), declarations since 2000
    https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/disaster-declarations-summaries-v2 · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
    Major-disaster (DR), emergency (EM) and fire-management (FM) declarations that designated the county.
  13. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program — Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Population Totals, Vintage 2025
    https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/metro/totals/cbsa-est2025-alldata.csv · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
  14. U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B01003, B25034, B25035, B25077, B25003, B25024, B25040
    https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData · retrieved Sep 28, 2026
    Keyless fallback: api.census.gov requires an API key as of 2026-09-27; same estimates + MOEs from the public table-based summary files. 5-year survey estimates carry margins of error; small places have wider margins. MOEs are stored alongside each estimate.