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Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to common questions about how to interpret EconomicStabilityIQ scores and comparisons.

Question 1

What does the Combined Score represent?

A published annual v2 Combined Score is a 0-100 summary of Employment Health, Income Stability, Industry Diversification, and Population Stability. Legacy v1 baselines are retained for reproducibility and are not restated as v2 scores.

Question 2

Is a higher score always better?

A higher score generally indicates stronger relative stability compared with same-level peers, but it is an analytical indicator, not a guarantee of future outcomes.

Question 3

How are locations compared?

Published annual v2 comparisons are level-matched: states compare to states and counties compare to counties. City pages do not receive an annual Combined Score; they distinguish direct population values from parent-county context.

Question 4

Why might a metric year look older than the current year?

Public datasets release on different schedules. Some sources have release lag, so the latest complete year may trail the current calendar year.

Question 5

Do you provide financial or investment advice?

No. EconomicStabilityIQ provides neutral, data-supported analysis for education and comparison. It does not provide investment, legal, or financial advice.

Question 6

How often are scores refreshed?

Scores are refreshed when source ingestions are updated and score snapshots are recomputed. Cadence depends on source release timing.

Methodology Data Sources Update Cadence