Trend Over Time
State Rankings
| Rank | State | Anxiety ↕ | Food ↕ | Housing ↕ | Afford ↕ |
|---|
Researcher Tools
Methodology & Data Dictionary
Read Whitepaper (GitHub)Data Sources
The Financial Health Barometer aggregates official government statistics with real-time volatility data. Our composite indices are calculated daily using the following official datasets:
| Variable | Source | Dataset / Frequency | Use in Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment Rate | Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) | LAUS (Local Area Unemployment Statistics) / Monthly | Primary driver for Financial Anxiety. Baseline set at 3.5%. |
| Rent Burden % | Census Bureau | ACS 1-Year Estimates (Table B25071) / Annual | Primary driver for Housing Stress. 30%+ = cost-burdened. |
| Fair Market Rent | HUD (Dept. of Housing) | FMR API (2-BR median) / Annual | Used for relative cost comparison in Housing Stress. |
| Poverty Rate | Census Bureau | SAIPE (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates) / Annual | Primary driver for Food Insecurity. |
| Housing Price Index | FRED (St. Louis Fed) | FHFA All-Transactions Index / Quarterly | Measures price volatility for Housing Stress. |
| Search Trends | Google Trends | Real-Time Search Volume / Daily | Used as a "Volatility Boost" (+0-10pts) to capture immediate stress spikes. |
| Housing Cost Burden | Harvard JCHS | State of the Nation's Housing 2025 / Annual | Authoritative calibration source for Housing Stress. Provides state-level % of cost-burdened and severely cost-burdened renters. |
Housing Stress Calculation (Data-Driven)
Housing Stress is calculated using three data-driven components, with Harvard JCHS 2025 data as an authoritative fallback when Census/HUD API data is unavailable:
- Rent Burden Score: (State Rent Burden % - 25%) × 3
Primary: Census ACS B25071. Fallback: Harvard JCHS renter cost burden data. - FMR Score: (State FMR / National Avg FMR - 1) × 40
Primary: HUD Fair Market Rents. Fallback: Harvard JCHS median rent by state. - HPI Score: Housing Price Change % × 2
Year-over-year home price appreciation from FRED.
Formula: Housing Stress = (100 + Rent Burden Score + FMR Score + HPI Score) × Regional Multiplier
Index Interpretation
Indices are relative measures of economic stress, scaled 0-250:
- < 90 (Green): Low Stress / Stable
- 90 - 120 (Yellow): Moderate Stress
- 120 - 150 (Orange): Elevated Stress - Warning Signs
- > 150 (Red): Crisis Level - Immediate Attention Needed
Academic Note: Heuristic Stress Model (HSM)
The indices presented here utilize a Heuristic Stress Model to quantify economic pressure. Unlike raw economic indicators, the HSM standardizes disparate metrics (unemployment, rent burden, search volatility) into a unified 0-250 stress index. This allows for cross-variable comparison similar to the "Misery Index" but with state-level granularity.
Researcher Note: Indices are heuristic composites designed for relative comparison. For econometric modeling, researchers are advised to use the raw underlying metrics (provided in the full CSV export) rather than the composite index scores.
Cite This Data
To cite the Financial Health Barometer in publications, please use the following format: