OpenStats City Score

OpenStats

OpenStats City Score

Dimensional average of OpenStats open-data pillars for each panel year 2016–2025: tax, construction, connectivity, indoor air, water, seismic hazard, population growth, and crime severity. Each series is scored 0–1 within its edition; series in the same pillar are averaged, then all eight pillars are averaged with equal weight. Missing pillars score at median standing (0.5). Growth and CSI use StatCan annual tables; permits, mill rates, and broadband use live rows plus documented year-varying estimates where needed. Radon, water, and PGA may be survey/model vintages carried forward and are flagged when static for more than two years. External commercial livability lists are never inputs.

Theme: composite
Cadence: annual
Geography unit: csd
How we publish: Full OpenStats table

Publisher page

How the City Score works

Each placement is scored from 0 to 1 inside its edition. When rank 1 means best, first place scores near 100%. When rank 1 means worst (for example highest radon or hardest water), that ordering is flipped so a healthier result still scores higher. Series in the same pillar (for example water hardness and lead) are averaged first. A city's OpenStats City Score is then the equal-weight mean across all eight pillars: tax, construction, connectivity, indoor air, water, seismic hazard, population growth, and crime severity. Missing pillars score at median standing (50%) so thin coverage cannot inflate the rank. Cities are ordered by that score. Commercial livability lists are never inputs.

Year panels from 2016 through 2025 use live atlas rows when a pillar publishes for that year. Permits, mill rates, and broadband may use documented estimates so hometown charts can move across the decade when a direct municipal reading is missing. Survey or model vintages for radon, water hardness, water lead, and seismic PGA may be carried forward; those carries are flagged when static for more than two years. Carried radon values are Health Canada survey vintages held constant — they are not newly measured annual city tests. Full ingest and tier rules sit on the methodology page.

Pillars measure different things. Use the City Score as a summary signal, then open the individual studies and topic pages for decisions about a specific home or project.

Current leaders

#	City	Province	Standing	Pillars
1	Edmonton	Alberta	72%	8
2	Ottawa	Ontario	71%	8
3	Oakville	Ontario	68%	8
4	Barrie	Ontario	67%	8
5	Hamilton	Ontario	67%	8
6	Vaughan	Ontario	66%	8
7	Fort McMurray	Alberta	65%	7
8	Airdrie	Alberta	65%	8
9	Sorel-Tracy	Quebec	63%	8
10	St. Catharines	Ontario	63%	8