Location scoring is one of the most consequential — and most contested — exercises in economic development. Every major site selection consulting firm has its own methodology. Every state development office has its own version. The inputs vary, the weights vary, and the results vary enough that a community can look very different depending on who's doing the scoring.
This dashboard brings the same min-max scalar approach used in EDai's Location Scoring engine to a visual, explorable format. Each metro is scored against all others within each variable — then those scores are aggregated into a composite index. The result is a single, comparable competitiveness ranking across 383+ U.S. metros that you can interrogate, filter, and customize.
This is also the methodology that underlies the Location Intelligence Engine in the EDai app — so if you've run a project analysis there, the competitiveness scores you've seen are built on the same foundation as this dashboard.
Connected to the Location Intelligence Engine. The scoring methodology in this dashboard is the same one powering the Location Scoring engine in the
EDai app — 147 variables, min-max scaled, weighted to your project priorities. Use this dashboard to explore community-level competitiveness patterns, and the app to run project-specific analyses.
The question this dashboard answers
"How competitive is this community — and which specific factors are driving that score up or down?"
Overall Competitiveness Index
Composite min-max scalar score across 100+ variables. Each metro scored against all others within each variable, then aggregated into a single index.
Factor-Level Scoring
Breakdowns across major location factor categories — labor, cost, infrastructure, quality of life, and more — so you can see where a community leads and where it lags.
Metro Benchmarking
Side-by-side comparisons across 383+ metros. Filter by region, size, or industry focus to create a relevant peer group for your analysis.
About the data
Scoring methodology
Min-max scalar normalization. Each metro scored against all others within each variable (0–1 scale), then aggregated into a composite index. Same methodology as the EDai Location Scoring engine.
Variable set
100+ variables across labor availability, labor cost, operating cost, infrastructure, quality of life, and industry-specific factors. Sources include BLS, Census, BEA, EIA, and other federal agencies.
Geography
383+ U.S. Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
