How the numbers are calculated.

For each household we compute:

• Gross monthly income from either a stated monthly amount, or hourly wage × hours × 4.33 weeks.
• Net income = Gross − taxes withheld.
• Total essential expenses = housing + utilities + food + transportation + healthcare + dental + childcare + phone/internet + debt.
• Remaining balance = Net income − essentials.
• % spent on basic needs, hourly survival value, and a 0–100 Family Risk Score combining over-spending, low savings, and child pressure.

We compare household numbers against state-level reference data derived from public sources:

• MIT Living Wage Calculator — hourly wage required to meet basic needs by family composition.
• HUD Fair Market Rent — fair-market rent for a two-bedroom unit by state.
• BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey — food, transportation, and household expense averages.
• KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) — family health-insurance premium and out-of-pocket data.
• USDA Cost of Food at Home — monthly food cost estimates by household size.

These figures are educational estimates only. They are not a forecast for any individual household.

We translate raw numbers into six 0–100 dimensions used across the Reality Analysis and Dignity Report:

• Income Stability — inverse of share of net income consumed by essentials.
• Healthcare Accessibility — healthcare costs as a share of net income.
• Family Survival — composite of margin, child support capacity, and emergency reserves.
• Emergency Vulnerability — months of essentials covered by available savings.
• Housing Burden — rent or mortgage as a share of net income (35%+ is recognized as severely burdened).
• Financial Pressure Index — composite signal of sustained stress.

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