Understanding market-level activity and trends is essential for making informed strategic decisions, whether you are seeking to boost your local economy, draw tourism to your destination, or spot the right market for upcoming developments or investments. With Market reports, you can now gain insights into entire regions, from cities and counties to ZIP Codes, CBSAs, neighborhoods, and more. Unlike property-level analysis, which focuses on specific locations, market-level insights help you assess broader patterns that shape regional activity and engagement.

You’ll be able to answer these questions after reading this article:

1. How do you explore and select a market in Placer?
2. How can you adjust date ranges and audience segments to refine your analysis?
3. How can you better understand market activity by audience?
4. How can you analyze visitor origins to target specific zip codes?

Pro Tip: The reports and widgets available in the Markets section may vary per account.

Get started with the following steps:

Step 1: Search for the market you would like to analyze

a. In the top navigation bar, select the Markets section to run a report for a market of interest. You can also visualize different markets in Explore,  and use the drop-down menu to filter for your market of interest. Click here to learn about supported market types. Click Open Report and select Markets.

‍b. Once you open a Market report, it will default to show data for the last 12 months. You can adjust the report’s time period by clicking the calendar icon and choosing the preferred date range.

Pro Tip: Market reports support up to 1 year of data, going back to the last 7 years. If you would like to compare different time periods use the 'quick comparison' feature to view data for the same market across different dates.

Step 2: Review market metrics and select an audience to focus on

a. In the Overview report, Market Population Metrics will provide a snapshot of audience counts during the report’s time period to quickly assess the market.

‍b. You can modify the report to present data for a specific audience group using the report’s filters. The following audiences can be analyzed:

• Residents – People who live within the market’s boundaries. Seasonal residents are classified as visitors, not residents.
• Employees – People who work within the market’s boundaries:
  
  • Resident Employees – Those who live and work within the market.
  • Inbound Commuters – Those who work inside the market but live outside of it.‍
  • Out-of-Market Visitors – Those who visit the market, but do not live or work in it. Those who pass through the market but do not stop in it are excluded.

Step 3: Market Insights

a. Use Daily and Hourly Activity to understand behavior trends by audience group.

Daily activity highlights the market’s busiest days, allowing you to compare activity across different markets and see how Residents, Inbound Commuters, and Out-of-Market Visitors contribute to engagement. Hourly reporting provides a detailed view of audience behavior throughout the day, identifying peak hours and fluctuations. Together, these insights help optimize staffing, adjust targeted promotions, and refine marketing strategies for maximum impact.

‍b. Use Non-Resident Origins to understand where your market’s visitors or employees come from, to better assess trends and understand the reach of your market.

The Non-Resident Origins tool helps you analyze visitor flow and identify the areas that drive visitation to the market. Both employees and out-of-market visitors are included in the analysis. To focus solely on visitors, you can filter by audience segment at the top of the report. You can see the number and percentage of visits from different regions (ZIP code, DMA, county, or state). You can also choose between tracking total visits or unique visitors to gain deeper insights into market reach.

This information is valuable for optimizing marketing and outreach efforts, helping you identify high-potential areas to reach your audience. By understanding visitor origins, you can tailor promotions to the right areas, identify emerging visitor trends, and inform municipal or regional planning.

‍