Scoring factor
How to weight walkability
Weight this for errands you want to do on foot. The score uses a walk score on the listing when the scrape includes one. Otherwise, if the listing has coordinates, it counts OpenStreetMap places within about a mile. It does not score demographics.
How hard to weight it
The remote-work preset is the highest, at 15, because the buyer is in the neighborhood during the day. The family preset uses 12. The office preset leaves it at 3.
A full gap, 0 versus 100, is 15 points at weight 15 and 3 points at weight 3, when both houses are measured. Houses with no walk score and no coordinates are left out, so this weight does not add the same number to all of them.
Do not raise it to express who you want as neighbors. The factor cannot see that, and it should not.
What the weight does to the total
Two houses with coordinates can differ by how many mapped places sit within about a mile. A house with no coordinates is Not measured.
| Weight | Effect on the total |
|---|---|
| Weight 15 | A 40-point amenity gap is 6 points on the total when both houses are measured. A house with no coordinates is left out, and the other weights are rescaled. |
| Weight 12 | The same 40-point gap is 4.8 points. |
| Weight 3 | The same gap is 1.2 points. It breaks ties only. |
The property score is the weighted sum: each factor score times its weight, divided by 100. Weights are scaled to add up to 100 before that sum.
What the score uses
By default an analysis uses the formulas in “What the score uses.” The new scoring engine runs only when FEATURE_USE_NEW_SCORING_ENGINE is on, or when a rollout percentage includes that account. Where that engine differs, it is called out separately. A missing input is labeled Not measured and left out of the total. The remaining weights are rescaled to 100%. A computed 50 is a real score and stays in.
Each mapped park, grocery, school, hospital, or transit stop within about a mile is 4 points, capped at 100. That is the same count the amenity lookup already uses.
A numeric walk score already on the listing is used instead of the place count.
No walk score and no usable coordinates → Not measured. It is left out of the total. A walk score of 50 is a real score and stays in.
Listing walk score, if it is a number from 0 to 100 → that number
Coordinates and a successful place count → min(100, places × 4)
Otherwise → Not measured (left out; other weights rescaled to 100%)
When the new engine is on
When the enhanced engine runs, it uses the same OpenStreetMap place count if that lookup succeeded. Census demographics are not added in.
The public overview is the methodology page. Where that page says comparables, orientation, or documented updates, the formulas on this page are the ones that run.
Tradeoffs against the other factors
- School quality
School quality is a rating. Walkability only notices that a school building is nearby. A family preset can weight both. They are not the same fact.
- Commute
Commute is time to a destination. Walkability is how many daily places are close to the house. A short drive and a walkable block are different, and a high weight on both is allowed to want both.
- Value
A walkable block can be expensive per foot. Value still scores the price. Walkability does not know what the house costs.
Mistakes that move the ranking
- Treating a missing walk score as “somewhat walkable.” The row says Not measured. A listed score of 50 is the moderate result.
- Expecting a Walk Score® brand number. RAAM does not invent one. It uses a score on the listing or a count of mapped places.
- Using the weight as a stand-in for who lives in the area. That is not what it measures.
Profiles that lean on this
The other six factors
Set the weight yourself
The builder opens on an even split, or on the platform default if one is saved. It does not assume this factor. If you want a whole profile filled in, start from a buyer preset.
Build your analyzer