Education Score and Health Score: Neighborhood Infrastructure Assessment

When choosing a neighborhood to live in, two questions come up most often: "Are there good schools nearby?" and "How far is the hospital?" Education Score and Health Score provide numerical answers — from 0 to 100, calculated from OpenStreetMap data.

Education Score: What Gets Counted

Education Score evaluates the accessibility of educational infrastructure. All objects within a 1.5 km radius of a given point are analyzed.

Objects Considered

Calculation Algorithm

1. Object search. A PostGIS SQL query finds all educational objects within 1.5 km:

SELECT osm_id, name, amenity,
       ST_Distance(way::geography, center::geography) AS distance_m
FROM planet_osm_point
WHERE amenity IN ('school', 'kindergarten', 'university', 'library', ...)
  AND ST_DWithin(way::geography, center::geography, 1500)
ORDER BY distance_m;

1. Distance score calculation. Each object receives a score from 0 to 1 based on distance. The decay function is linear: an object at 0 m gives 1.0, at 1500 m — 0.0.

2. Weighting. The distance score is multiplied by the category weight. A university at 500 m (score 0.67 * weight 2.0 = 1.34) is more valuable than a library at 200 m (0.87 * 0.8 = 0.70).

3. Aggregation. Weighted scores of all objects are summed and normalized to a 0-100 scale. Diversity is considered — a neighborhood with 3 schools and 2 kindergartens scores higher than one with 5 schools and 0 kindergartens.

4. Cluster bonus. If a school AND a kindergarten exist within 300 m of each other (educational cluster), a bonus is added. Parents value the convenience of taking children of different ages to the same area.

Example Results

For a point in central Moscow (55.7558, 37.6173):

• 12 schools within 1.5 km (nearest — 180 m)
• 8 kindergartens (nearest — 250 m)
• 3 universities (MSU, HSE, MGIMO — within 1.5 km)
• 5 libraries
• Education Score: 91/100 — "Excellent educational infrastructure"

For a point in a new development on the outskirts:

• 2 schools (nearest — 800 m)
• 1 kindergarten (1200 m)
• 0 universities
• 1 library
• Education Score: 34/100 — "Limited educational infrastructure"

Health Score: Methodology

Health Score evaluates medical infrastructure accessibility. The methodology mirrors Education Score but with different categories and weights.

Objects Considered

Calculation Specifics

Unlike Education Score, Health Score uses nonlinear decay. A hospital at 500 m vs 1000 m — the difference isn't critical. But if the nearest hospital is 5+ km away, that's a serious issue.

Decay formula:

score = max(0, 1 - (distance / max_distance) ^ 0.7)

The 0.7 exponent makes the curve flatter at short distances and steeper at longer ones. This reflects reality: as long as healthcare is "within reach," the difference between 200 m and 600 m is insignificant.

Critical Thresholds

Health Score considers critical distances:

• Pharmacy > 1 km — penalty of -5 points. In emergencies, a pharmacy should be close.
• Hospital > 3 km — penalty of -10 points. Ambulance arrival time is critical.
• No clinic within 2 km — penalty of -8 points.

Example

For a point in central Berlin (52.52, 13.405):

• 3 hospitals (Charite — 600 m)
• 14 clinics and doctor's offices
• 22 pharmacies
• 8 dental offices
• Health Score: 88/100 — "Excellent medical infrastructure"

Real Estate Applications

For Buyers

Education Score and Health Score are objective metrics for comparing neighborhoods. Typical scenario:

1. Family with a child choosing between two apartments
2. Apartment A: Education Score 78, Health Score 65
3. Apartment B: Education Score 45, Health Score 82
4. For a family with a child, Education matters more — choice favors A

For Developers

When planning a residential complex, scoring helps evaluate market potential. A low Education Score in the area means commercial spaces for a private school or kindergarten on ground floors should be considered.

For Real Estate Agents

Scoring data is a competitive advantage in presentations. Instead of subjective "the area is developed" — concrete numbers: "Education Score 82, within 1 km — 5 schools and 3 kindergartens."

City Comparison

Average Education Score and Health Score values vary significantly:

Differences between cities reflect both actual infrastructure and OpenStreetMap data completeness. For cities with low coverage (Africa, parts of Asia), scoring is less reliable.

Limitations

• Quality isn't assessed. An elite school and an ordinary one receive the same weight. OSM doesn't contain educational institution ratings.
• Capacity isn't considered. A school for 500 students and one for 2000 are rated equally.
• Private vs public. OSM doesn't always contain the access=private tag, so private clinics are counted alongside public ones.
• Temporal accessibility. A 24-hour pharmacy is more valuable than a daytime one, but operating hours are rarely specified in OSM.

Despite limitations, Education Score and Health Score remain among the most practical tools for evaluating neighborhood infrastructure. They provide an objective starting point that can be supplemented with personal inspection.