Three Data Modules. One Intelligence Engine.

Place-level economic intelligence
from 16 federal datasets

PermitBase for building permits. CommuteBase for commuter flows. EconBase for employment & wages. Buy them individually — or unlock PlaceMetrics, the intelligence engine that cross-references all three into housing gaps, rent projections, and market scores.

16
Federal Datasets
54.9M
Database Rows
44
Years of History
50
States + D.C.
100%
Primary Federal Sources
Product Suite

Buy the data you need. Upgrade when you need the full picture.

Each module is a standalone API backed by primary federal data. PlaceMetrics connects them into cross-referenced intelligence.

Module 1

PermitBase

44 years of building permits. Place-level SF/MF differentiation. 780K rows, 1980–2026.

Census Bureau BPS
50 states + D.C.
Updated quarterly
permitbase.org — Live
Module 2

CommuteBase

Origin-destination commuter flows. 50 states, 2002–2022. Place-level aggregation from Census block data.

Census LEHD LODES 8.3
~60M place-level rows
Import rates, worker origins
Coming Q2 2026
Module 3

EconBase

Employment by NAICS sector. Location quotients, wage premiums, concentration risk. County-level.

BLS QCEW 2014/2019/2024
20 NAICS sectors
Suppression index
Coming Q2 2026
The Platform

PlaceMetrics Intelligence Engine

All three modules plus the cross-referenced analytics that make them greater than the sum of their parts. Housing gap models, rent projections, commuter trip reduction, supply gap scoring — computed from 16 federal datasets in one API call.

Includes:
✓ All PermitBase endpoints
✓ All CommuteBase endpoints
✓ All EconBase endpoints
✓ City Intelligence Reports (33 metrics)
✓ Supply Gap Scorer (4 profiles)
✓ Housing Gap + Renter Demand models
✓ Rent Projection + Income Ceiling
✓ Location Quotient analysis
✓ Dynamic pipeline credit engine

Built on 16 Federal Datasets

Building Permits
Census Bureau BPS
1980 – 2026
Population & Housing
Census ACS 5-Year
2015 – 2024
Employment & Wages
BLS QCEW
2001 – 2024
Commuter Flows
Census LEHD LODES
2002 – 2022
Home Price Index
FHFA HPI
1991 – 2025
Fair Market Rents
HUD FMR
2017 – 2026
Migration & Income
IRS SOI
2012 – 2022
Mortgage Activity
CFPB HMDA
2007 – 2017
Unemployment
BLS LAUS
2023 – 2025
Regional GDP
BEA Regional
2017 – 2023
Decennial Census
Census Bureau
2010, 2020
Sector Employment
BLS QCEW by NAICS
2014, 2019, 2024
Population Estimates
Census PEP
2010 – 2024
Interest Rates
Federal Reserve / BLS
1980 – 2025
Housing Surveys
Census AHS/CPS
Various
Geography Crosswalk
Census TIGER / LODES
Current
Phase 7 Engine

Market intelligence, not just data access

Pre-computed analytics that cross-reference multiple federal datasets. One API call returns a complete market picture with full source attribution.

GET /v1/intelligence/city-report

City Intelligence Report

Complete 33-row market profile. Housing gaps, pipeline credit, rent projections, commuter models, economic concentration, LQ analysis, and composite scoring — one call.

Professional
GET /v1/intelligence/supply-gap

Supply Gap Scorer

Weighted composite scoring across 5 demand signals. Four named profiles (investor, entitlement, policy, workforce) or custom weights.

Developer
GET /v1/intelligence/housing-gap

Housing Gap Analysis

Two complementary models: employment-driven (jobs/HH ratio) and renter demand (MF supply deficit vs MSA average). Dynamic pipeline credit adjusts for permits in delivery.

Developer
GET /v1/intelligence/rent-projection

Rent Projection

FMR CAGR extrapolation with 9-year, 3-year, and 2-year windows. Income-based ceiling at 28% burden ratio. Headroom calculation.

Developer
GET /v1/intelligence/trip-reduction

Commuter Trip Reduction

LODES-derived model: how many daily commuter trips would N new housing units eliminate? Based on actual origin-destination import rates.

Developer
GET /v1/intelligence/location-quotient

Location Quotient

NAICS 2-digit sector analysis. Employment specialization, wage premiums vs national average, concentration risk via BLS suppression index.

Professional
# One call. Complete market intelligence.
curl "https://api.permitbase.org/v1/intelligence/city-report\
  ?state_fips=05&place_fips=41720&profile=investor&units=500" \
  -H "X-API-Key: pb_live_your_key"

# Returns 33 rows: profile, housing gaps, pipeline credit,
# rent projections, commuter model, economic concentration,
# LQ sectors, wage premiums, and supply gap score.
# Every row includes source attribution and data year.
Why PermitBase

What makes this different

Market-level, not property-level

ATTOM, CoreLogic, and CoStar sell property records. We sell market intelligence — the macro context that makes property decisions make sense. Different product, different price point.

100% primary federal sources

Every data point traceable to Census, BLS, BEA, FHFA, HUD, CFPB, or IRS. No web scraping. No proprietary models without source disclosure. Peer-citable in academic research.

Compiled, not just accessed

Anyone can download Census files. Nobody else has compiled 16 datasets into cross-referenced, place-level intelligence with 44 years of history. The convenience IS the product.

AI-native distribution

MCP server for Claude. LangChain toolkit on PyPI. OpenAI GPT Action manifest. Your AI agents can query place-level economic data in natural language.

Estimates are flagged

Every modeled number carries method, inputs, data year, and confidence qualifier. Users never mistake a projection for an actual. The Phase 7 engine is transparent by design.

A fraction of the cost

ATTOM starts at $500+/month. CoStar requires enterprise contracts. PermitBase starts at $19/month for academics, $49 for developers. Full API access, no sales calls.

Pricing

Modules or platform — your choice

Start with the data you need. Upgrade to the full intelligence engine when you're ready.

Individual Modules

Free
$0
50 calls / month
Annual permits
State summaries
✗ Trends & cycles
✗ Intelligence
Get Free Key
Academic
$19/mo
5,000 calls / month
Any one module
Full endpoint access
Trends & cycles
✗ Intelligence engine
Start Academic

PlaceMetrics Platform

Professional
$149/mo
Unlimited calls
All three modules
Intelligence engine
City reports + LQ
CSV export
Start Professional
Government
$299/mo
Unlimited + SLA
Everything in Pro
Multi-seat access
Priority support
Custom SLA
Contact Sales
Enterprise
$999/mo
Unlimited + redistribution
Everything in Gov
Redistribution rights
Snowflake / S3 feed
Dedicated support
Contact Sales

Annual plans save 20%. All tiers include full documentation and support.

Built For

Who uses this

Academic Researchers

44-year panel datasets with federal source attribution. Every data point citable. Build on LODES, ACS, BPS, QCEW without the data engineering.

PropTech Developers

MCP server + LangChain toolkit + REST API. Build AI agents that answer "where should I build?" with sourced federal data.

Financial Analysts

Permits as leading indicators. Location quotients for sector exposure. Supply gap scores for REIT and homebuilder coverage.

Planning Departments

Housing gap models, commuter trip reduction estimates, rent projections with income ceilings. Evidence for zoning decisions.