Community indicators and scorecards help communities to examine the well-being of residents. The Self-Sufficiency Standard provides communities with an indicator of the cost of living at a basic needs level and, in some communities, we have measured how many households are living below the Standard. These are also excellent educational tools for the public and government officials.
- Various states in the Kids Count! project use the Standard as an indicator of economic well-being or security. Examples include 2016 Kids Count! In Colorado, Kids Count in Washington, Kids Count in California, and the 2016 Wyoming Kids Count Data Book.
- The Portland Development Commission uses the Self-Sufficieny Standard as their bar to measure the number of "prosperous households" able to meet their basic needs in Portland, Oregon.
- Also in Portland, Oregon, the City of Portland uses the Self-Sufficiency Standard as one of their core "Measures of Success" in the Portland Plan.
- Rise Together Bay Area released a dashboard of data tables from their Promoting Family Economic Security Report to track progress on their coalition's goals.
- The Dave and Lucille Packard Foundation includes the Self-Sufficiency Standard in Kidsdata.org, a database tool providing access to information about the health and well-being of children across California.
- The increase or decrease in the number of families living below the Self-Sufficiency Standard is included as an indicator in the Erie Vital Signs Dashboard.
- In Maryland, Healthy Montgomery includes the Self-Sufficiency Standard for a family of 3 as part of their Community Dashboard.
- Also in Maryland, the United Way of Central Maryland uses the Standard as a community indicator in their report The State of Basic Needs in Central Maryland.
- Connecticut's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women included the number of households living below the Self-Sufficiency Standard as part of their report card on the status of Connecticut women.
- The Women's Foundation of Genesee Valley used the Standard as part of their report Improving Economic Self-Sufficiency For Women and Girls: 2014 Update.
- The Portland Pulse includes the Standard for Oregon as part of their Individual and Family Prosperity Indicators series.
- The Census Information Center of Eastern Oklahoma provides an analysis comparing the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Tulsa to other commonly used poverty indicators.