The Brain / SCI
Stress Index for County Economies
Measuring economic malfeasance by architecture.
The Stress Index for County Economies tracks economic dysfunction at the county level across the full United States — all 3,143 counties and county-equivalents. It does not measure poverty or unemployment in isolation. It measures the architecture of stress: whether the structural conditions that sustain an economy — employment, labor participation, community infrastructure, civic function — are holding together or coming apart in ways that are self-reinforcing and hard to reverse.
The core output is the B0 score, a composite index aggregated from four measurement modules: M1 (economic conditions), M2 (community infrastructure), M3 (labor market dynamics), and M4 (civic and institutional capacity). Scores range from 0 to 1. A B0 above 0.6 indicates elevated stress conditions. Above 0.8 is critical — meaning multiple structural systems are simultaneously degraded.
Data: B0 scores computed from LAUS, BLS, FDIC, and Census series. Snapshot: June 2026.
| County | State | B0 Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claiborne County | MS | 0.862 | Critical |
| Pemiscot County | MO | 0.856 | Critical |
| Leslie County | KY | 0.854 | Critical |
| Clay County | KY | 0.852 | Critical |
| Humphreys County | MS | 0.852 | Critical |
| Marlboro County | SC | 0.849 | Critical |
| Allendale County | SC | 0.848 | Critical |
| Breathitt County | KY | 0.847 | Critical |
| Jefferson County | MS | 0.840 | Critical |
| Searcy County | AR | 0.839 | Critical |
County Stress Map
Choropleth rendering in progress. Available shortly.
What it looks like when a third of the country’s counties share the same structural stress signature.
Available soon.A data-first breakdown of the B0 index: what it measures, how scores distribute nationally, and which states show systemic stress clusters.
Available soon.The SCI B0 score aggregates unemployment, labor force participation, and earnings deviation across county LAUS series alongside FDIC branch data, BLS establishment counts, SAIPE poverty estimates, and infrastructure indicators. Scores above 0.6 indicate elevated stress; above 0.