Homestead finder
Set what you can live with — climate, terrain, water, hazards, taxes, laws — and the map turns green everywhere that fits. Then switch on layers to spot what you'd rather not live next to. Tap anywhere for the full rundown.
Climate & growing5 set
Under 60 feels dry, 65+ is muggy, 70+ is oppressive
Crops and livestock start struggling above the low 90s
Hardiness zone shown in brackets
Most vegetables need 120+; fruit trees and a second planting like 180+
Under 20 in usually means irrigating everything
Land & terrain
Elevation change within ~8 mi: under 300 ft is flat, 1,000+ is hilly, 2,500+ is mountains
Higher ground runs cooler and drier in summer
Share of land within ~12 mi that's federal (national forest, BLM…) — hunting, grazing leases, no neighbors
Water on the land — not required
Natural hazards
USFS Wildfire Hazard Potential, averaged over the area
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
FEMA National Risk Index score for the county, 0–100
Costs & services
County median tax paid ÷ median home value (Census ACS 2019–23)
County share of households with a broadband plan (ACS). Starlink works almost anywhere regardless
Straight-line miles to the nearest open acute-care or critical-access hospital
From NASA's Black Marble night-lights imagery. Lower is darker
Growth & development
County change from Census estimates. Fast growth means rising land prices — and new neighbors
Housing units permitted in 2025 per 1,000 residents, by county. 10+ is a boom
State laws
State-level rules as of September 2026. They change every legislative session and counties add their own, so confirm with the county before you buy. "Many unzoned counties" is a rough guide — Texas counties can't zone at all; elsewhere it varies county by county.
Surveillance
Contamination & nuisance
Energy & infrastructure
Growth & construction
Travel & camping
Other
~363k sq mi fits
Everything is judged in ~8-mile squares — use it to find the right region, then check the parcel itself. County numbers (FEMA risk, taxes, broadband, growth) apply to the whole county.
Sources: PRISM 1991–2020 climate normals and NOAA freeze data; AWS terrain tiles; HydroRIVERS; USFS Wildfire Hazard Potential; FEMA National Risk Index and flood maps; Census ACS, population estimates and building permits; NASA Black Marble; HIFLD hospitals and transmission lines; Esri federal lands; EPA UCMR 5, Superfund and ECHO permits; USGS orphaned wells; EIA power plants and pipelines; DoD MIRTA; FHWA FAF4 traffic; OpenStreetMap (cameras via DeFlock, data centers, road projects, construction, campgrounds). Crowd-sourced layers are incomplete — a quiet area may just be unmapped.