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Correction: State of Home Safety 2026 Methodology

CORRECTION AND METHODOLOGY UPDATE

Updated August 6, 2026

ZipCheckup has withdrawn the national grade, state rankings, anomaly totals, cost estimates, and other aggregate findings in the original April 3 release. Those figures were generated with a legacy model and data combinations that are not comparable to the current source-bound series. They should not be quoted as current ZipCheckup findings.

Current method

The current Home Safety Score is model 4.0.0. It requires four inputs: drinking-water compliance from SDWIS and ECHO, with PFAS kept inside the drinking-water domain; radon; and annual AQI. The four inputs form three equally weighted domains. A ZIP is unscored when any required input is unavailable. Grades use A at 85, B at 70, C at 55, D at 40, and F below 40. The site's 17-vertical registry describes broader context and future candidates; it is not a set of 17 weighted score components.

The current model does not impute a missing required input and does not renormalize the remaining inputs. A ZIP without complete coverage is reported as unscored.

What remains valid

ZipCheckup continues to organize source-linked home-safety records by ZIP and across 17 product verticals. Those verticals are useful context, but only the four required inputs above determine the current score.

What was withdrawn

The earlier national 67/100 result, state league table, 17-component description, household-cost model, anomaly totals, and universal daily, weekly, or monthly cadence are retired. Historical pages and digests must identify their model and as-of date and must not be compared directly with model 4.0.0.

Media guidance

Do not reuse the former headline or tables. For a current ZIP, cite the exact page, model version, and displayed data status. For a reproducible data extract or questions about the correction, contact [email protected].