About Understand Idaho

Understand Idaho exists to make it easier to understand what is happening in our state.

We collect and organize public data about Idaho, show how it is changing over time, and provide the source behind the numbers.

We start with questions, not political parties.

Our goal is simple: establish the facts first, then provide the context needed to understand the choices facing Idaho.

How the site works

Every figure is read from a dataset that is itself fetched by a script from the publisher, stored as fetched, and normalized into one table of observations. No page carries a typed-in statistic. When a publisher revises a figure, the script is re-run and every page that uses it changes together.

Each observation records what it measures, the geography, the time period, the value in the publisher’s own precision, and whether the publisher calls it preliminary, an estimate, revised or final. Each dataset records the organization, the dataset or report name, the canonical page, the exact file or API call used, the publisher’s release date, the date we retrieved it, the license, and the caveats a reader needs beside the numbers.

Source policy

Primary government and public datasets are preferred over secondary reporting. Secondary sources may be used to find questions and provide context; important numerical claims are traced to the primary source.
The original source URL, dataset name, publication date and data period are preserved with every figure.
Figures are shown at the precision the source publishes. Nothing is rounded to look tidier or extended to look more exact.
Missing values are left missing. Nothing is interpolated, carried forward or estimated by us.
Where two sources publish different figures for the same thing, both are shown with the reason for the difference where it is known.
A small number of measures are computed by us from published ones, such as a growth rate from two population estimates or a home value to income ratio. Each is labelled as computed, its inputs are cited, and the arithmetic is stated so a reader can redo it.
Statements on the site describe what the data shows. They do not say what a reader should conclude from it.

Corrections

If a figure does not match its source, or a source has published a revision we have not picked up, write to info@understandidaho.com with the page and the figure. A confirmed error is corrected in the data file, the page is rebuilt, and the correction is noted on the data catalog entry for that dataset.

Reuse

The compiled datasets are released under CC0. The underlying records are Idaho and United States public record. Text and charts on the site may be quoted with a link to the page. Cite the original publisher for the figures; cite Understand Idaho for the compilation.

This site is not an official publication of, and is not endorsed by, any agency named on it. Nothing here is legal, financial or medical advice.