Methodology: how we count Syracuse records

Exact sources, refresh cadence, definitions and caveats behind every number on Syracuse Data Desk.

Every number on this site is a count of rows in a dataset the City of Syracuse publishes. No figure is modelled, estimated or adjusted. This page documents the sources, the definitions and the ways these numbers can mislead you.

Sources

Dataset	Publisher	Records	Coverage
Vacant Properties	City of Syracuse	1,524	Current registry
Code Violations	City of Syracuse	152,990	August 27, 2012 – October 6, 2026
Permit Requests	City of Syracuse	47,902	July 31, 1980 – August 16, 2025

All three are served from the city's ArcGIS open-data services and mirrored, unchanged, into the JSON files this site is built from. The last full pull was October 7, 2026.

Definitions

Record — one row. One property can produce many records, so record counts are not property counts.
Last 12 months — records whose date field falls within the 365 days before the refresh date. We use the opened date on complaints and the issue date on permits.
ZIP — the ZIP recorded on the complaint or vacancy record, not a geocoded location. Records without a ZIP are excluded from ZIP rankings.
Neighborhood — the neighborhood field as published by the city; some records carry none and are grouped as "Unassigned".
Open status — statuses matching open/pending/active. The status vocabulary is the city's and changes without notice.

What these numbers cannot tell you

A complaint is not a violation. Anyone can file a complaint. Only an inspection result is a violation finding, and neither is a court finding.
Vacancy is a registration, not an observation. A building can be on the vacant list while occupied, and off it while empty.
Addresses are entered by hand. "123 Main St" and "123 Main Street" are different strings and will appear as two addresses.
Permits are filings. An issued permit does not prove the work happened or was done to code.
Enforcement is not evenly distributed. Complaint volume tracks both disrepair and how willing a neighborhood is to call the city. A high count can mean more problems, more reporting, or more inspections.

Corrections and disputes

If your property is listed incorrectly, the fix belongs at the source: the listing comes from the city's dataset, and we republish it verbatim. Email hello@syracusedatadesk.com with the URL and the record and we will add a note, and explain how to file a correction with the city.

Republishing

The underlying records are public. Our counts, page structures and written analysis are ours. You may quote figures with a link back to the page you took them from.