Output Schema
{
"example": {
"caveats": [
"Reported inputs and a computed ratio only. Locus performs no comparison against any published benchmark and applies no label of its own."
],
"componentStatus": [
{
"component": "census_bps_county",
"status": "ok"
}
],
"employment": {
"annualAvgEmployment": 665775,
"basis": "place of work, UI-covered employment (BLS QCEW annual averages)",
"netChange": 12622,
"priorAnnualAvgEmployment": 653153,
"priorYear": 2024,
"year": 2025
},
"geo": {
"county": "Wake County",
"countyFips": "37183",
"state": "NC"
},
"kind": "housing_supply_balance",
"note": "Awareness/diagnostic only. Full briefs are x402-paid. Agents can discover live free tools at https://api.locus.report/tools/list and paid tools, prices, and manifests at https://api.locus.report/.well-known/ai-tool/index.json.",
"ok": true,
"permits": {
"imputedShare": 0.004,
"multifamilyUnits": 5628,
"present": true,
"reportedTotalUnits": 15180,
"singleFamilyUnits": 9620,
"totalUnits": 15248,
"year": 2024
},
"point": {
"latitude": 35.780418000003195,
"longitude": -78.63910200000142
},
"provenance": {
"employment": {
"granularity": "county, calendar-year annual average, place of work, UI-covered employment",
"source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - annual averages, all ownerships, county total",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.bls.gov/cew/"
},
"housingStock": {
"granularity": "county, 5-year estimate",
"source": "U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year, table B25001 (total housing units)",
"sourceUrl": "https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2023.B25001",
"vintage": "ACSDT5Y2023"
},
"permits": {
"granularity": "county aggregate, calendar year",
"source": "U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey - annual county file (residential units authorized by building permit)",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/"
}
},
"publishedBenchmarks": [
{
"label": "NAHB stated balanced band, jobs per total housing unit permitted",
"note": "NAHB describes this as a historical observation and does not source it further. NAHB computes at metro (MSA) level.",
"source": "NAHB Eye on Housing, June 2026",
"url": "https://eyeonhousing.org/2026/06/structural-demand-outpacing-supply-jobs-to-permits-ratios-highlight-housing-gap/",
"value": "1.25 to 1.50"
}
],
"publishedCritiques": [
{
"source": "MPF Research / National Apartment Association, 2015, 'Job Growth-to-Absorption: Doesn't Add Up'",
"summary": "NAA / MPF Research measured this ratio family at -161 to +130 jobs per unit of demand across 50 apartment markets over 14 years and called its reliability 'surprisingly bad'.",
"url": "https://www.naahq.org/news-publications/units/october-2015-issue/article/job-growth-absorption-doesnt-add"
}
],
"ratios": {
"convention": "jobs in year N divided by housing units permitted in year N-1 (NAHB convention; the one-year lag reflects the time permitted units take to move through construction)",
"jobsPerMultifamilyUnitPermitted": 2.24,
"jobsPerTotalUnitPermitted": 0.83
},
"status": "ok",
"supplyPipeline": {
"note": "Permits authorized, not units delivered.",
"totalHousingUnits": 481999,
"unitsPermittedAsShareOfStockPct": 3.163
},
"verifyNext": [
{
"step": "Read the county's full permit history in the Census Building Permits Survey.",
"url": "https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/"
}
]
},
"type": "json"
}