Research & intelligence division
Explore original research, state comparisons, interactive dashboards, and trusted reports about life, work, business, education, healthcare, and opportunity across the United States.
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Insights dashboard
Reports, rankings, dashboards and collections in one place — each one carrying its author, review date, methodology and sources.
Every figure on this site is labelled by origin: official federal agency, state agency, public dataset, academic work, independent research, or US360 editorial analysis. Where a measure is not yet sourced for all 51 state hubs, it is shown as a labelled placeholder rather than estimated.
Featured report
What a household budget actually looks like across 51 US360 state hubs.
Key finding: The spread between the least and most expensive state on the US360 cost index is wide enough to change a household's savings rate on an identical salary.
What a household budget actually looks like across 51 US360 state hubs.
Median home values, the deposit gap and what affordability means state by state.
Latest research
Where people are moving, and what the published data can honestly say about it.
Why the same driver pays very different premiums in different states.
What owner-operators should expect from the year ahead.
Car dependence, transit reach and the true cost of getting around.
Trending insights
Trending reflects US360 editorial judgement of reader demand. No third-party analytics figures are published here.
What a household budget actually looks like across 51 US360 state hubs.
Median home values, the deposit gap and what affordability means state by state.
Where forming and running a small business is most practical.
Credit, banking and the tax treatment that changes take-home pay.
State rankings
Each ranking uses identical inputs for all state hubs, publishes its weights, and lists the factors still awaiting a source.
Where is it cheapest and most practical to form and run a small business?
Where does an average household budget stretch furthest?
Where can a family buy a home and stay near services?
Where does a location-independent salary go furthest?
Where is study plus living cost most manageable?
Where is care most reachable?
Interactive dashboards
Panels derived from the published state dataset are marked as US360 analysis. Everything awaiting a dataset is marked as a sample layout.
Compare the published cost index and housing values across every hub.
3 panels · Partly derived from published data
Median home values, affordability bands and planned rent measures.
2 panels · Partly derived from published data
Formation conditions, tax treatment and market depth.
2 panels · Partly derived from published data
Industry breadth, market size and opportunity composite.
2 panels · Partly derived from published data
Research collections
Every collection gathers its reports, rankings, dashboards and downloads alongside the guides that explain them.
How far a paycheck goes in each state.
Open collectionBuying, renting and affordability pressure.
Open collectionWhere the jobs are and what they pay.
Open collectionFormation, filing costs and climate.
Open collectionSchools, tuition and outcomes.
Open collectionCoverage, access and cost.
Open collectionDriving, transit and commuting.
Open collectionEmergency systems and preparedness.
Open collectionCourts, rights and legal help.
Open collectionBanking, credit and taxes.
Open collectionCoverage requirements and pricing.
Open collectionConnectivity and the digital economy.
Open collectionMoving around the United States.
Open collectionWho lives where, and why it changes.
Open collectionClimate patterns and seasonal risk.
Open collectionRecently updated
Where people are moving, and what the published data can honestly say about it.
How coverage is obtained, and where access is structurally thinner.
What a household budget actually looks like across 51 US360 state hubs.
Car dependence, transit reach and the true cost of getting around.
Upcoming reports
Listed so readers and journalists can plan. Nothing below is published yet.
In production — publishing early 2027.
In production — publishing February 2027.
Trust & transparency
A researcher drafts from the shared state dataset, a second researcher recomputes every composite, and an editor reviews the wording before publication.
A measure only enters a ranking when the same field exists for all 51 hubs. Anything partial stays a labelled placeholder.
Annual reports are re-published yearly with a mid-year review. Rankings recompute with the dataset and are reviewed at least twice a year.
State-level figures cannot describe a specific city or neighbourhood, and several important measures are still unsourced. Each report lists its own limits.
Corrections are published on the report page with the date and the change, and the version history records what moved.
Anyone can flag a figure through the contact page. Flagged figures are re-checked before the next review date.
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