We'll compile the results and crown a winner next week.
Perhaps not all topics can be put cleanly into a spreadsheet.
The Economic Research Service created a natural amenities ranking for every county in the nation, based on a variety of factors: June and January temperature, humidity, topographic variation (the hilliness or flatness of an area) and percent water coverage, since people tend to find bodies of water attractive.
The results are all over the place, with some of the least-populated counties with the highest amount of open space and parks ranked as the least attractive. Somerset County, sometimes named the best county for families in New Jersey, was rated worst on the list.
How can data, based on facts and hard evidence, go so wrong?
The ERS did not use enough information to determine their rankings, and even if they incorporated more data, it's tricky to capture all of the elements that make an area great.
We want to see whether we can use a different element to find out the prettiest counties: the human one. Fill out a form on your first and second choices for New Jersey's most attractive and least attractive counties. We'll compile the results and crown a winner next week.
Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.