01 · Free
Retrospective scan
How Khora would have ranked your territory from 2016 data, checked against what was actually built from 2021 to 2025. You see how it does on ground you know.
FOR UTILITIES, CO-OPS, WATER SYSTEMS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Know where new development lands next.
Khora ranks 900-meter cells in your service territory to highlight where new pavement and buildings may emerge. Your planners start with the top 5–10% instead of the whole map.
A clearer starting point for the places you plan.
Sioux Falls, S.D. · ranked from 2016 data60 of 73 found
Explore in the Atlas ↗Built up in 2016Khora top 5%Picked, and it developedDeveloped, but not picked
Real historical output: a 74.7 km study region in 900 m cells, with growth measured in 2021–2025.
- 376
- growth fronts in Khora’s top 5% of cells
- 353
- in trend-following’s top 10%, twice the area
- 29
- U.S. regions, none used to build the model
SAME REGION, TWO SHORTLISTS
Both picked 344 cells. Khora’s held 60 growth fronts. Trend-following’s held 47.
Trend-following bets on places that were already growing. Khora reads the shape of the whole settlement, so it also flags edges that had been quiet.
Khora top 5%60 of 73 found
Explore in the Atlas ↗Trend-following top 5%47 of 73 found
Explore in the Atlas ↗Built up in 2016The method’s top 5%Picked, and it developedDeveloped, but not picked
Sioux Falls had the largest net gain in growth fronts of the 29 regions (+13). See all 29 below.
ACROSS ALL 29 REGIONS
More growth fronts in less territory.
Khora’s top 2% of cells held 40% of all growth fronts. Its top 10% held 80%. Khora found more at each search budget shown, so you can explore the one that fits your planning budget.
find 63% of the growth fronts
Share of all 597 growth fronts observed in 2021–2025 found in the top-ranked cells. Rankings use 2016 data across 29 U.S. regions. Pooled results; fractional credit at tied cutoffs.
THE HEADLINE RESULT
Our top 5% found more growth fronts than trend-following’s top 10%.
We ranked 29 U.S. regions from 2016 data, then counted the growth fronts that actually appeared from 2021 to 2025: 900-meter areas where pavement and buildings expanded substantially. There were 597 in total.
Bars show growth fronts found out of 597. Trend-following ranks cells by their growth over the previous five years.
- +84
- more growth fronts in the same 5% search area: 105 found only by Khora, 21 only by trend-following
- 80%
- of all 597 growth fronts fell in Khora’s top 10% of cells (63% in its top 5%)
- 55.4 km²
- of net new paved and built surface inside Khora’s top 5%, against 47.4 km² for trend-following
REGION BY REGION
Better in 18 regions, tied in 9, behind in 2.
On average, Khora’s top 5% caught 73.0% of each region’s growth fronts. Trend-following caught 60.6%.
In 4 of the 9 ties, both methods caught every new front in the region. In the ten regions growing fastest before 2016 (chosen before any outcomes were seen), Khora was better in 9, tied in 1 and behind in none, by 13.6 points on average.
None of the 29 regions were used to build the model. They are mostly smaller metros (26 small, 3 large), with none in the Northeast. The high-growth subgroup is descriptive.
View the results for all 29 regions
| Study region | Growth fronts | Khora found | Trend found | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redding, CA ↗ | 3 | 3 | 3 | Tied |
| Flagstaff, AZ ↗ | 4 | 4 | 4 | Tied |
| Kankakee, IL ↗ | 53 | 35 | 23 | Khora better |
| Johnson City, TN ↗ | 11 | 3 | 3 | Tied |
| Grand Island, NE ↗ | 12 | 11 | 9 | Khora better |
| Tyler, TX ↗ | 13 | 5 | 6 | Trend better |
| Salisbury, MD--DE ↗ | 43 | 30 | 20 | Khora better |
| Appleton, WI ↗ | 56 | 37 | 26 | Khora better |
| Harrisonburg, VA ↗ | 9 | 7 | 4 | Khora better |
| Monroe, LA ↗ | 5 | 4 | 4 | Tied |
| Chico, CA ↗ | 12 | 8 | 5 | Khora better |
| Huntington, WV--KY--OH ↗ | 7 | 0 | 1 | Trend better |
| Parkersburg, WV--OH ↗ | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tied |
| St. George, UT ↗ | 45 | 36 | 31 | Khora better |
| Rapid City, SD ↗ | 20 | 18 | 13 | Khora better |
| Las Cruces, NM ↗ | 11 | 8 | 5 | Khora better |
| Albany, GA ↗ | 2 | 1 | 1 | Tied |
| Missoula, MT ↗ | 3 | 3 | 2 | Khora better |
| San Angelo, TX ↗ | 5 | 4 | 4 | Tied |
| Grants Pass, OR ↗ | 3 | 3 | 2 | Khora better |
| Decatur, IL ↗ | 6 | 6 | 5 | Khora better |
| Manhattan, KS ↗ | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tied |
| Grand Forks, ND--MN ↗ | 4 | 3 | 3 | Tied |
| Hinesville, GA ↗ | 59 | 25 | 21 | Khora better |
| Sioux Falls, SD ↗ | 73 | 60 | 47 | Khora better |
| Sioux City, IA--NE--SD ↗ | 10 | 8 | 6 | Khora better |
| Mobile, AL ↗ | 38 | 16 | 13 | Khora better |
| Peoria, IL ↗ | 3 | 3 | 2 | Khora better |
| Tulsa, OK ↗ | 85 | 33 | 27 | Khora better |
ONE ILLUSTRATIVE LOCATION
A cell trend-following ranked 6,512th. Khora ranked it 4th.
South of Joliet, Illinois, in our Kankakee study region, one 900-meter cell had seen essentially no growth in the five years before 2016. A trend-based ranking put it near the bottom. Khora put it near the top. Within five years it was nearly half paved or built over.
An illustrative cell, not a typical outcome. Historical rank does not establish what will happen at an individual location.
WHAT YOU GET
A ranked map of your territory, built on the Khora Engine.
02 · Research stage
Forward ranking
A research-stage ranking from 2025 data, highlighting areas to investigate for development during 2030–2034, the same five-to-nine-year horizon we tested. A dated record is kept so results can be checked as they arrive.
03 · For your team
GIS-ready files
Ranked 900-meter cells with top 5% and top 10% flags, delivered as GeoJSON and CSV. Ready to overlay on your system maps, load forecasts or facility plans.
YOUR TERRITORY. A CLEARER STARTING POINT.
See how Khora ranks your territory.
Tell us your service area. We’ll discuss a free retrospective scan and walk your planning team through what it found, including where it missed.
Explore settlement growth, 1985–2025, in the AtlasObserved settlement history across the contiguous United States.