1. Define the geography before reading the numbers
Pasco is a municipality in Franklin County, Washington. The 2020–2024 ACS five-year estimate records 79,575 residents, with a margin of error of 25. That is a population record—not evidence of legal demand, search volume, competition, leads, cases or revenue. A dashboard should therefore distinguish Pasco from Franklin County and from any broader Washington or metropolitan-area view. Those are different geographic scopes, and combining them can make a trend appear more local than it is. Ask whether a location field means the searcher’s location, the page location, the caller’s stated location or the matter’s venue. Also ask how unknown or outside-area records are handled.
Recommended approach
Before approving the dashboard, write a geography dictionary for your firm. At minimum, decide how Pasco, Franklin County, Washington and an unknown location will appear, and require every location-based card or export to identify its scope. Treat the Census population as context for eligibility, not as a forecast. A useful acceptance test is a review of several records with known geography and a check that the displayed label matches the agreed definition.
