Data Sources & Definitions
Every metric we sell, exactly where it comes from, and how often it's refreshed - so you can decide with real information whether a one-time export or an ongoing subscription fits how you'll use it.
Baseline
Included in every tier
| Metric | Definition | Source | Refresh cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store number, address, phone | The store's identity and physical location. Phone isn't available for banners sourced from the USDA SNAP retailer dataset - that source doesn't carry a phone field. | The retailer's own store locator, or the USDA SNAP retailer directory | Rolling automated review - see "How the automated refresh works" below |
| Status (Active / Closed) | Whether the store is currently operating, as of the last time it was checked. | The retailer's own store locator, or the USDA SNAP retailer directory | Rolling automated review |
| Last verified | Timestamp of the most recent successful check against the source above. | Internal - recorded automatically on every review | Updated every time the store is reviewed |
Mid-tier
Adds trade-area demographics
| Metric | Definition | Source | Refresh cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | Residential population of the store's surrounding census area. | U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-Year Estimates) | Annual restatement |
| Median household income | Median household income for the surrounding census area, in USD. | U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-Year Estimates) | Annual restatement |
| Affluence index | A 0-100 score comparing local median household income to the national median. 100 = exactly the national median. | Derived from the Census ACS income figure above | Annual restatement |
| Ethnicity breakdown | Residential population by race/ethnicity, as a percentage breakdown. | U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-Year Estimates) | Annual restatement |
| Daytime population | Jobs located in the store's immediate area - a workplace/foot-traffic proxy, distinct from residential population. | U.S. Census Bureau, LODES (Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics) | Annual restatement |
Premium
Adds program authorization, traffic, and site-selection signals
| Metric | Definition | Source | Refresh cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNAP authorization | Whether the store is authorized to accept SNAP (food assistance) benefits. | USDA Food and Nutrition Service retailer directory | Verified at initial build, periodically re-verified |
| WIC authorization | Whether the store is a verified WIC vendor. Currently sourced for 13 states plus Washington, DC and the Wichita, KS metro area - null elsewhere, meaning not yet evaluated, never a negative result. | State WIC agency vendor lists (varies by state) | Verified at initial build, periodically re-verified |
| EV chargers - presence, count, networks, DC-fast count | Whether EV chargers exist near the store, how many, which charging networks operate them, and how many are DC fast chargers. | U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center | Quarterly full refresh, plus immediately for any newly opened or relocated store |
| Road traffic (AADT) | Annual Average Daily Traffic on the nearest primary road, in vehicles/day. | Federal Highway Administration, National Highway System | Annual restatement, plus recomputed for the whole state whenever any store there opens, closes, or moves |
| Competitive density | Count of same-channel competitor stores within 3 miles. | Derived from Afferent Synapse's own store database - not a third-party source | Recomputed for the whole state whenever any store there opens, closes, or moves - a competitor's move updates this even if your store didn't change |
| Food desert designation | Whether the store sits in a census tract designated low-income and low-access to food retail. | USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas | Annual restatement |
| Opportunity Zone | Whether the store sits in a federally-designated Qualified Opportunity Zone (a tax-advantaged investment designation). | U.S. Department of the Treasury, CDFI Fund | Annual restatement (designations themselves rarely change) |
| Crime index | Violent + property crime rate for the store's nearest reporting law enforcement agency. | FBI Crime Data Explorer | Annual - live, ~79% coverage as of 2026-08-24 and growing |
| Diabetes / obesity prevalence | Modeled prevalence of diagnosed diabetes and obesity among adults in the store's area. | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PLACES project | Annual restatement |
| Recreation site count, nearest recreation distance | Count of national parks/forests/BLM-BOR-Corps recreation areas and federal campgrounds within 25 miles, plus distance in miles to the single nearest one - a proxy for seasonal tourist/camper foot traffic near the store. | Recreation.gov, Recreation Information Database (RIDB) - aggregates National Park Service, US Forest Service, BLM, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish & Wildlife recreation sites | Annual restatement |
How the automated refresh works
Store locations and status are reviewed on a rolling, automated basis - the system always checks whichever banners have gone longest without a review first, so nothing sits stale indefinitely. When a store is found to have opened or moved, its demographics, traffic, and site-selection data are refreshed automatically at the same time, using the latest data already on file for its area.
Separately, the underlying government and public datasets themselves (Census, USDA, CDC, FBI, Treasury) are re-pulled in full on the cadence shown above - mostly annual, matching how often those sources actually publish new figures, since pulling an unchanged annual number more often wouldn't add any real freshness. EV charger data is the exception: unlike a government survey, charging stations are added continuously by network operators, so that one refreshes quarterly.