diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 457837b..b0eb936 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@
 composer.lock
 vendor
 tests/coverage-report
+tests/examples
 .idea
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/DataSets.php b/src/DataSets.php
index 0fc96a1..bfea605 100644
--- a/src/DataSets.php
+++ b/src/DataSets.php
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public static function counties($state = 'AR')
 	 */
 	protected static function getData($path = null)
 	{
-		return json_decode(file_get_contents($path));
+		return json_decode(file_get_contents($path), true);
 	}
 
 	/**