How Escape Map works
Every profile across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland is assembled when you click. We expose the publisher, period and limitation instead of hiding uncertainty behind a single ranking.
No secret desirability score
Distance, density, sunshine and amenities mean different things to different households. Escape Map shows the evidence and lets you compare it. Demographic, crime and hazard data is never collapsed into a single safety or desirability score.
Like-for-like only
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland publish local statistics through different systems. Where a comparable feed does not exist, the site says so. A blank is more honest than a fabricated national comparison.
A research aid, not a verdict
Map data can be incomplete, APIs can fail and conditions change. Mapped water is not proof of access or safe drinking water, and elevation or proximity to water is not a flood assessment. Visit a place and confirm material facts before moving.
Finds and reverse-geocodes the selected point, with a coordinate fallback if the lookup pauses.
Road distanceOSRM / OpenStreetMap ↗LiveNo-traffic driving route to the quickest of four nearby candidates in Escape Map's published regional-city list.
Shops, health, rail and waterOpenStreetMap Overpass ↗LiveStraight-line distance to mapped amenities, drinking-water points and named freshwater features; access and incomplete mapping can produce gaps.
Natural hazardsNational flood, weather and geological authorities ↗Official checksProperty-level official links are shown for each nation; no synthetic disaster score is created.
SunshineOpen-Meteo historical archive ↗Three-year averageModelled/observed sunshine duration for the selected coordinates.
Crime: England and WalesUK Police open data ↗Latest published monthRaw incidents near the selected point; not adjusted for population or visitor numbers.
Census: England and WalesONS Census 2021 via Nomis ↗2021Neighbourhood density, population and broad-group context.
Crime: ScotlandPolice Scotland ↗Area releasesNo equivalent point-level live feed; the site does not substitute England/Wales figures.
Census: ScotlandScotland's Census ↗2022Published through a separate system; the official source is linked without substituting England/Wales data.
Crime: Northern IrelandPolice Service of Northern Ireland ↗Official releasesA separate geography and publication system; the source is shown transparently rather than substituted.
Census: Northern IrelandNISRA Census 2021 ↗2021Small-area geography requires its own coordinate index.
Crime: IrelandCentral Statistics Office Ireland ↗Official releasesGarda-recorded crime is published at different statistical geographies and is not directly equated with UK street data.
Census: IrelandCSO Census 2022 ↗2022Official Small Area Population Statistics require a dedicated spatial join.
Context without prejudice
The population-mix view summarises broad census groups and exposes its calculation. It is displayed because communities are part of place context—not because any group predicts crime, safety, compatibility or worth. The data is excluded from finder ordering, decision prompts and comparisons.
Ordered prompts, not measured rankings
The finder orders a curated starting list using the nation, place character, remoteness, service access, sunshine and rail choices you make. It deliberately shows broad fit labels rather than a precise percentage. Crime and population composition are excluded. Once a place opens, current evidence replaces the curated prompt.
Minimal by design
Saved comparison places and resilience checklist progress are stored in your browser. Escape Map does not currently require an account or ask for your home address. Third-party map and data providers receive the coordinates required to answer a lookup.
Public services are not an infinite backend
Escape Map caches recent searches on the device to reduce repeat traffic. A commercially scaled service will need managed routing, geocoding and amenity infrastructure—or contracted providers—with monitored quotas, caching and service-level expectations. The current release does not disguise that operational boundary.