Methodology

What we cover

• Bridges and crossings. Official wait times at the 11 Valley border crossings, read every 15 minutes, and the monthly federal counts of trucks, personal vehicles and pedestrians at the five ports of entry.
• The peso and diesel. The daily peso exchange rate, which its source publishes once a week, and the weekly Gulf Coast retail diesel price.
• City sales tax. The state's monthly sales tax allocations to 45 Valley cities, with the change from a year earlier and the year to date.
• Bars and restaurants. Monthly alcohol sales from the state mixed beverage tax reports, city by city, and new on premise alcohol licenses.
• Home health. Certified home health agencies in the four counties and their federal quality star ratings, updated every quarter.
• New businesses. New sales tax permits by industry and city, and new motor carriers, over the last 90 days.
• Construction and housing. Building permits and commercial project filings, monthly housing permits in all four counties, months of supply in the McAllen and Brownsville metros, and local material prices checked twice a week. We credit Redfin, Zillow and Freddie Mac for their housing data, as their terms require.

How the numbers stay current

Each number refreshes on its source's schedule: bridge waits every 15 minutes, the peso, diesel and new businesses every week, sales tax, crossings and bar sales every month, and home health ratings every quarter. Next to each number we print the date it covers and a freshness mark:

• Live. A bridge reading from the last three hours.
• Current. The newest figure the source has published, on schedule.
• Due for an update. The source is late. The page keeps the last figure and shows its date.

When a month in a source falls far outside its usual range, as a count of bridge crossings sometimes does, we hold it back and mark it until the source confirms or corrects it.

The weekly issue

We collect data Monday through Saturday and publish the weekly issue on Sunday. We use software, including AI tools, to gather data and prepare drafts. Before an issue goes out, we check every figure against its source record and every date against the calendar. If an issue fails that review, it doesn't run that week, and the archive marks the gap.

Labels in the issue:

• Verified. Confirmed by a permit, a public filing or a site visit.
• Announced. Made public, with no permit or site work yet.
• Withdrawn. Publicly canceled or pulled.
• DARK. The source published nothing this week.
• STALE. The newest figure is out of date, and the issue gives the date it's from.

Forecasts

Each issue makes a few forecasts, each with a deadline. When one comes due, we grade it a hit, a miss or a push, in the next issue and in the public data. Misses stay on the record.

Names and confidentiality

The free pages show totals by city, port and bridge. Lists with business names, built from public records, are in the paid reports. We never publish private bid prices, client names or a company's internal costs, and we don't make investment projections.