# Choose the next US state to expand into. Compare demand, competition and the job market An expansion decision needs the same numbers for every state. Census business patterns count establishments and payroll by industry, the American Community Survey gives population and income, BLS adds unemployment and DataForSEO checks the competition on Google Maps. - For: Operators, franchise teams and strategy leads - Providers: 3 (US Census Bureau, BLS and DataForSEO), 4 tools - Example (One business patterns read, one population and income read, one unemployment read and one Google Maps check): at most $0.006, computed from the live catalog - Updated: 2026-11-04 ## Each provider does one part No single provider covers this job. Through Agentik your AI calls each one for its part, from one connection and one prepaid balance. - **US Census Bureau** (2 tools, free): Establishments, employment and payroll by industry, with population and income by state. - **BLS** (1 tool, free): The monthly unemployment rate in each candidate state. - **DataForSEO** (1 tool, at most $0.006): A live Google Maps read of who already competes in a chosen city. ## Give this to your agent ```text Use my connected Agentik MCP server for this job: us state expansion. Help me choose the next US state to expand into. Find the right NAICS code for my industry, then compare establishments, employment and payroll by state. Add population and median household income, and compute residents per establishment. Read the latest unemployment rate for the leading states. Check the real competition in the main city of the top candidate on Google Maps. Rank the states, state the weights you used and show which assumption would change the ranking. Use these Agentik tools for the written steps: census/business-patterns, census/acs, bls/series-batch, dataforseo/google-maps. Inspect their current schemas and availability first. Ask for missing inputs and use identifiers returned by actual earlier results. The page's example identifiers illustrate input shapes. Quote more pages before expanding. Preserve source links, dates and uncertainty. Before running anything, inspect each tool with inspect_tool, ask me for any input you don’t have instead of inventing it, and tell me the total price. Wait for my go. At the end, tell me what Agentik charged. ``` ## You provide - Your industry, or its NAICS code - The states you can operate in - What matters most, such as income or low competition ## Before this job - The tools must be available in your connected Agentik catalog. Ask for the missing provider configuration if a tool is unavailable. ## What you get: a ranked state shortlist with the numbers behind it - Establishments and payroll per state - Residents per establishment - Income and unemployment beside each state - A ranked shortlist with its assumptions ## How to compare US states for expansion in Claude or ChatGPT Prices are the most each call can reserve for this example: One business patterns read, one population and income read, one unemployment read and one Google Maps check. ### 1. Count the industry by state Use the NAICS code that fits the business and keep the data year beside the numbers. - [Census business patterns by industry](/tools/census/business-patterns.md) `census/business-patterns` (US Census Bureau): free ### 2. Read population and income Join on the state name and compute residents per establishment. - [Census American Community Survey data](/tools/census/acs.md) `census/acs` (US Census Bureau): free ### 3. Read the job market Unemployment series use the state FIPS code. Pull only the states still in the running. - [BLS several time series at once](/tools/bls/series-batch.md) `bls/series-batch` (BLS): free ### 4. Check local competition A statistic hides who is really there. Read one main city before recommending a state. - [Google Maps search results](/tools/dataforseo/google-maps.md) `dataforseo/google-maps` (DataForSEO): at most $0.006 Example total: at most $0.006. Each call is billed for measured usage; unused reservations are released. ## Ask it your way - Help me choose the next US state to expand into. - Keep the sample small and cite the source for each conclusion. ## Why through Agentik - Collect the official sources through one Agentik connection. - Inspect the price of each bounded call before running it. - Keep each figure beside its source and date. ## Good to know - County Business Patterns lags by about two years, so keep the year beside every number. - Establishment counts show how crowded a market is, not how profitable it is. ## When to use something else For trade-area models, foot traffic and sales forecasts, use a location intelligence platform. This playbook gives a first ranking from public statistics. ## US state expansion: questions ### What does the example cost? At most $0.006 for the illustrated calls. The official records are free through Agentik, and the paid calls are the press, maps or email steps. ### Does the result cover every source? No. Public records have publication lags and search results can be incomplete. Keep the collection date, sample size and missing evidence visible. ### Does this send messages or change an account? No. These steps read public records and prepare a brief. Sending a message or changing an account requires a separate instruction. ## Keep going - [Market sizing](/market-sizing.md): How many target companies and buyers exist, the country’s population and economy, how many people search for the solution, and price points from reports, in a TAM, SAM and SOM with every assumption shown. - [Country entry brief](/country-entry.md): A country’s economy and internet use, local demand for your category on Google, search volume for local-language keywords, the exchange rate, and the news on regulation and competitors. - [Store catchment check](/store-catchment-check.md): A US address with its ten-minute drive area, estimated residents, tract income and the competitors already nearby. - [Research tools for your agent](/tools/research.md) - [Analytics tools for your agent](/tools/analytics.md) [All playbooks](/playbooks.md) · [Connection guides](/docs/clients.md) · [Billing](/docs/billing.md) --- [HTML page](/us-state-expansion) · [Agent index](/llms.txt)