AmeriCurious spent years in academic research before trading peer review for road trips — swapping footnotes for a full tank of gas and a habit that never quite went away: check the source, verify the number, go see it yourself.

That research background now shows up as a methodology rather than a résumé line. Every relocation guide on this site is built from primary sources — Census Bureau data, BLS cost-of-living figures, MLS/Zillow/Redfin listings, and named local studies — cited and dated, not paraphrased from someone else’s paraphrase. Every city and small-town guide is built from an actual visit: an actual conversation with the person behind the counter, an actual check of whether the “hidden gem” everyone recommends is still open on the day you’d actually go.

On the Product Guides side, reviews are based on meticulously analysed user reviews, publicly available pricing and terms, independent reporting, and — where a topic touches something as serious as a child’s online safety — a deliberately conservative, parent-first read of the evidence, not an affiliate-first one. AmeriCurious discloses affiliate relationships plainly and turns down partnerships that would require softening an honest verdict.

AmeriCurious writes under a single, consistent identity rather than a rotating masthead, specifically so readers can hold one voice accountable for what’s published here — post after post, correction after correction.