Source register

A source only appears on this page if it is a government agency, a public statistical office, or a similarly authoritative non-commercial body — never a lender, brokerage, or advertiser with a financial interest in the figure it publishes. Each source is cited for a specific, narrow purpose, shown next to its listing below, rather than treated as a universal answer for every calculator.

Authoritative sources

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Owning a Home

  Used for mortgage, closing-cost, and consumer-protection explanations referenced across the Buy and Taxes & Closing calculators.

• U.S. Census Bureau — Housing Vacancies and Homeownership

  Used for national homeownership and vacancy-rate context on the Own and Rent vs. Buy calculators.

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Consumer Expenditure Survey

  Used for typical household spending categories referenced in maintenance and affordability guidance.

• HUD — Fair Market Rents

  Used for national rent-level context on the Rent vs. Buy and Rental Cash Flow calculators.

State, ZIP, and county labels do not fetch property tax or insurance amounts. Those remain user-entered unless a tool names a current authoritative source.

National and regional data describe averages and trends, not your specific property. A Census vacancy rate or a HUD fair-market-rent figure is useful context when you have no better number yet — it is not a substitute for a real lease, a current tax bill, or an actual insurance quote for the property you are evaluating. Wherever a calculator lets you replace a national figure with your own, replacing it improves the result.

If a linked source has moved, been retired, or you know of a better public dataset for a specific calculator, send the details through the contact page. Sources are reviewed on the cadence described on the methodology page.