Overview
County Data works by analyzing the county name provided and getting data about the US county. It uses advanced algorithms to get data such as average income, area, and more based on the county name and returns the county data.
Live Test US County Data Source →
Formula
One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the rest are its inputs, and the "field" pair says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.
=VERVE("countydata", A2, B2, "field", "name")=VERVE.CALL("countydata", A2, B2, "field", "name")A2 holds state, B2 holds county. Arguments go in that order — the same order as the table below.
With literal values
Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.
=VERVE("countydata", "MO", "Jackson", "field", "name")=VERVE.CALL("countydata", "MO", "Jackson", "field", "name")Inputs
Required inputs are positional, in the order below. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after them — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.
| Input | Type | Where it goes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
stateRequired | string | argument 2 (A2) | The two letter name of the US state the county is in (e.g., MO) length 2–2 |
countyRequired | string | argument 3 (B2) | The name of the US county to get data about (e.g. Jackson) |
What lands in your sheet
The "field" pair is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.
Seeing everything at once
Drop the "field" pair and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.
=VERVE("countydata", A2, B2)=VERVE.CALL("countydata", A2, B2)The second row's table would land on top of the first's, and every cell after the first reads #REF! (#SPILL! in Excel). Keep one per sheet, or name a field, and leave the cells below and to the right empty.
Response fields
Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the "field" pair accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.
| Use as "field" | Type | Example cell value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
name | string | jackson county | County name in lowercase format |
state | string | MO | Two-letter state code where county is located |
agePremium | object | {…} | Age distribution percentages by age groups |
age.0-4Premium | number | 0.0644100874666257 | Percentage of population aged 0-4 years |
age.5-9Premium | number | 0.06532756955438819 | Percentage of population aged 5-9 years |
age.10-14Premium | number | 0.06595060390235714 | Percentage of population aged 10-14 years |
age.15-19Premium | number | 0.05967616438434107 | Percentage of population aged 15-19 years |
age.20-24Premium | number | 0.059725950234064615 | Percentage of population aged 20-24 years |
age.25-29Premium | number | 0.08192474939936928 | Percentage of population aged 25-29 years |
age.30-34Premium | number | 0.07523353119652466 | Percentage of population aged 30-34 years |
age.35-39Premium | number | 0.06868029092005673 | Percentage of population aged 35-39 years |
age.40-44Premium | number | 0.05831060964906666 | Percentage of population aged 40-44 years |
age.45-49Premium | number | 0.058805623240603636 | Percentage of population aged 45-49 years |
age.50-54Premium | number | 0.05858087569042305 | Percentage of population aged 50-54 years |
age.55-59Premium | number | 0.0674783182624454 | Percentage of population aged 55-59 years |
age.60-64Premium | number | 0.06208437705811146 | Percentage of population aged 60-64 years |
age.65-69Premium | number | 0.05099777955110233 | Percentage of population aged 65-69 years |
age.70-74Premium | number | 0.03891546504962227 | Percentage of population aged 70-74 years |
age.75-79Premium | number | 0.026437708656052324 | Percentage of population aged 75-79 years |
age.80-84Premium | number | 0.01748905778145719 | Percentage of population aged 80-84 years |
age.85+Premium | number | 0.01997123800338828 | Percentage of population aged 85 years and older |
malePremium | number | 339932 | Total male population count in county |
femalePremium | number | 363079 | Total female population count in county |
healthPremium | object | {…} | Health metrics and indicators for the county |
health.poorhealthPremium | number | 20.588989742 | Percentage of population reporting poor health status |
health.physicallyunhealthydaysPremium | number | 4.247736361 | Average physically unhealthy days per month |
health.mentallyunhealthydaysPremium | number | 4.8111015035 | Average mentally unhealthy days per month |
health.lowbirthweightpercentPremium | number | 9.1518749808 | Percentage of low birth weight births |
health.smokerspercentPremium | number | 20.957241772 | Percentage of population that smokes |
health.obesitypercentPremium | number | 31.5 | Percentage of population classified as obese |
health.foodenvindexPremium | number | 7.5 | Food environment index rating for county |
health.physicallyinactivepercentPremium | number | 23.2 | Percentage of physically inactive population |
health.excessivedrinkingpercentPremium | number | 18.940103365 | Percentage of excessive alcohol drinkers |
health.alcoholimpaireddrivingdeathsPremium | number | 152 | Annual alcohol-impaired driving deaths in county |
health.teenbirthratePremium | number | 31.109351559 | Birth rate among teenage population |
health.uninsuredPremium | number | 12.486314662 | Percentage of uninsured population |
health.withannualmammogramPremium | number | 45 | Percentage receiving annual mammogram screening |
health.vaccinatedPremium | number | 51 | Percentage of vaccinated population |
health.childreninpovertyPremium | number | 19.6 | Percentage of children living in poverty |
health.80thpercentileincomePremium | number | 108296 | 80th percentile income level in dollars |
health.20thpercentileincomePremium | number | 23275 | 20th percentile income level in dollars |
health.childreninsingleparenthouseholdsPremium | number | 33.224850811 | Percentage of children in single-parent households |
health.violentcrimeratePremium | number | 941.43198334 | Violent crime rate per 100,000 people |
health.averagedailypm25Premium | number | 9.1 | Average daily PM2.5 air pollution level |
health.severehousingproblemsPremium | number | 15.347550638 | Percentage with severe housing cost burden |
health.drivealonetoworkPremium | number | 83.470246386 | Percentage driving alone to work |
health.longcommutedrivesalonePremium | number | 33.7 | Percentage with long commute driving alone |
longitudePremium | number | -94.34749665503394 | Geographic longitude coordinate of county |
latitudePremium | number | 39.016701918102484 | Geographic latitude coordinate of county |
educationPremium | object | {…} | Educational attainment distribution for county |
education.lessthanhighschoolPremium | number | 9.4 | Percentage with less than high school education |
education.highschoolPremium | number | 28.3 | Percentage with high school education |
education.somecollegePremium | number | 30.7 | Percentage with some college education |
education.bachelorsPremium | number | 31.6 | Percentage with bachelor's degree or higher |
zipcodesPremium | array | ["64137","64111","64053"] | Array of all ZIP codes within the county |
lifeexpectancy | number | 77.19 | Average life expectancy in years |
avgincome | number | 47054 | Average annual household income in dollars |
povertyrate | number | 13.7 | Percentage of population below poverty line |
costoflivingPremium | object | {…} | Cost of living metrics for the county |
costofliving.livingwagePremium | number | 14.55 | Living wage per hour in dollars |
costofliving.foodcostsPremium | number | 3246 | Average annual food costs in dollars |
costofliving.medicalcostsPremium | number | 2681 | Average annual medical costs in dollars |
costofliving.housingcostsPremium | number | 8136 | Average annual housing costs in dollars |
costofliving.taxcostsPremium | number | 6263 | Average annual tax costs in dollars |
landareakm2Premium | number | 1565.601892 | Land area of county in square kilometers |
areakm2Premium | number | 1596.319707 | Total area of county in square kilometers |
Filling a whole column
Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 10 credits per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.
=VERVE("countydata", A2:A100, B2:B100, "field", "name")In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The "field" pair is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.
In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.
Either way, column A holds your state values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.
When a cell doesn't fill
A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.
| Cell reads | What happened |
|---|---|
#ERR Not connected | No API key saved. Open the side panel and connect your account. |
#ERR Replace <name> with a cell or value | A preview formula was copied as-is. Swap the placeholder for a cell reference. |
#ERR No "x" in countydata | An option name this source does not take. The message lists the ones it does. |
#ERR No data point "…" | The "field" path is not in the response. Check it against the table above. |
#PREMIUM(field) | The field exists but your plan does not include it. |
#ERR Out of credits | The cycle's credits are spent. Usage resets on your billing date. |
Before the formula works
The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.
- Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
- Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
- Type the formula above into any cell.
Use cases
- Mortgage Applicant Benchmarking
- Mortgage lenders check local poverty rates and average household income to benchmark applicant earnings against county economic baselines.
- Public Health Screening
- To prioritize regional health initiatives, medical researchers compare county life expectancy figures with state poverty rates.
- Retail Site Selection
- When evaluating new storefront locations, commercial real estate developers review county average income and poverty levels to assess consumer spending capacity.
- Grant Resource Allocation
- Nonprofit program managers distribute community development grants by evaluating county poverty rates and average household income against national benchmarks.
Other ways to use US County Data
Set up US County Data on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
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