We pull from Census ACS, CDC PLACES, USDA Food Access, and more — and translate it into language that actually moves programs and policy forward.
Why This Matters
Billions of dollars of public data gets collected every year — Census surveys, CDC health surveillance, USDA food access studies. It sits in federal databases, published in formats that take a data science team to interpret.
Good & Well Institute takes that data, synthesizes it across five dimensions of family health, and turns it into clear, actionable intelligence — for the practitioners, grant writers, and policy makers who need it most.
No API key. No data team. No six-week procurement cycle. Just the data, in plain language, in under a minute.
The G&W Framework
Each dimension is a place where families experience both pressure and possibility. Together they form the Family Wellness Index.
The village. Social bonds, community ties, and the sense of being known and supported by people around you. Loneliness and social isolation are our single strongest predictor of overall family health — more predictive than income, education, or access to healthcare. When connection breaks down, everything else follows.
Physical health access, chronic disease burden, and daily wellbeing across every generation in the household.
True stability — not just income, but the margin to handle what life actually costs. Housing, food, utilities, and emergencies.
The pathways that shape opportunity — from early childhood through workforce readiness and lifelong learning.
Housing security, neighborhood safety, and the conditions that make every other dimension possible.
The Family Wellness Index
The Family Wellness Index is GWI's composite measure of community health — a single score from 0–100 that reflects how families in a given area are doing across all five dimensions.
It's not a ranking meant to shame struggling communities. It's a diagnostic — a starting point for conversations about where to invest, what programs to fund, and where the gaps are widest.
The index is available for every U.S. zip code and county through the Family Wellness Analyzer — free, updated annually, and built to be used.
Try the Analyzer →Enter any U.S. zip code or county and get a full five-dimension wellness profile — free, no account required, updated annually. Built for the practitioners, grant writers, and policy makers who need it most.