Data Glossary

Definitions for every metric, index, and data source used on How Is America.

ACS (American Community Survey): An ongoing Census Bureau survey providing detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing data for communities across the United States. Learn more →
AI Usage: The percentage of respondents who reported using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar AI assistants. Source: Census HTOPS 2026. Learn more →
Annual Checkup: The percentage of adults who report visiting a doctor for a routine checkup within the past year. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
Bachelors or Higher: The percentage of adults age 25+ who have completed a bachelor's degree or higher level of education. Source: ACS. Learn more →
Binge Drinking: The percentage of adults who report consuming 5+ drinks (men) or 4+ drinks (women) on a single occasion in the past 30 days. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
CDC PLACES: A CDC program providing health data for small areas across the United States, including counties, places, census tracts, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas. Learn more →
Cost Burden: When a household spends more than 30% of its income on housing costs (rent or mortgage). Source: ACS. Learn more →
Division: A Census Bureau geographic grouping of states (e.g., "Pacific," "New England"). Learn more →
Employed: The percentage of respondents who reported being currently employed for pay. Source: Census HTOPS. Learn more →
Expense Difficulty: The percentage of respondents who reported it is "somewhat difficult" or "very difficult" to pay for usual household expenses. Source: Census HTOPS. Learn more →
Food Insecurity: A broader measure: when a household has difficulty providing enough food for all members due to lack of resources. USDA definition. Learn more →
Food Insufficiency: When a household sometimes or often does not have enough food to eat. Measured by the Census HTOPS survey. More severe than "food insecurity." Learn more →
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data): Economic data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, including housing and economic indicators. Learn more →
Health Score: A composite score from 0–100 measuring overall population health based on CDC PLACES indicators including obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity, smoking, and preventive care. Learn more →
HTOPS (Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey): A Census Bureau survey measuring household experiences across topics like AI, food, housing, employment, health, and trust. Successor to the Household Pulse Survey. Learn more →
Median Age: The age at which half the population is older and half is younger. Source: ACS. Learn more →
Median Home Value: The middle value of owner-occupied housing units. Source: ACS. Learn more →
Median Income: The middle household income where half earn more and half earn less. Source: ACS. Learn more →
Median Rent: The middle gross rent for renter-occupied housing units. Source: ACS. Learn more →
Mental Health: The percentage of adults reporting 14 or more days of poor mental health in the past 30 days. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
Obesity: The percentage of adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30.0 or higher. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
Physical Inactivity: The percentage of adults who report no leisure-time physical activity in the past month. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
Poverty Rate: The percentage of the population living below the federal poverty line. Source: ACS. Learn more →
PUF (Public Use File): A publicly available microdata file with individual survey responses (with privacy protections). Learn more →
PWEIGHT: The person-level survey weight used to produce nationally representative estimates from HTOPS data. Learn more →
Rent Behind: The percentage of renters who reported being behind on rent payments. Source: Census HTOPS. Learn more →
Sample Size: The number of survey respondents in a given state or group. Larger samples produce more reliable estimates. Learn more →
Smoking: The percentage of adults who report currently smoking cigarettes. Source: CDC PLACES. Learn more →
Squeeze Index: A letter grade (A through F) measuring the financial pressure on households, based on expense difficulty, rent burden, food insufficiency, and uninsured rate. Learn more →
Uninsured: The percentage of the population without health insurance coverage. Source: Census HTOPS and ACS. Learn more →
Unemployment Rate: The percentage of the labor force that is jobless and actively seeking employment. Source: BLS. Learn more →
Wellbeing Index: A composite score from 0–100 measuring overall quality of life based on income, employment, health, food security, housing affordability, and education. Learn more →