diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index b3c28c1..690d3f5 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
+export(apply_target_location_exclusions)
 export(assert_data_up_to_date)
 export(check_authorized_users)
 export(check_changes_for_autoapproval)
 export(count_designated_models)
-export(excluded_locations)
 export(generate_hub_baseline)
 export(generate_hub_ensemble)
 export(generate_oracle_output)
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ export(get_nssp_col_name)
 export(get_round_ids_vec)
 export(get_target_data_type)
 export(get_target_label)
-export(included_locations)
 export(is_ed_target)
 export(is_hosp_target)
 export(summarize_ref_date_forecasts)
diff --git a/R/constants.R b/R/constants.R
index 60522ae..fd6c2a3 100644
--- a/R/constants.R
+++ b/R/constants.R
@@ -1,74 +1 @@
-#' Two digits FIPS codes for locations excluded from Hubs'
-#' target data.
-#'
-#' Excludes Virgin Islands (78), Northern Mariana
-#' Islands (69), Guam (66), American Samoa (60), and Minor
-#' Outlying Islands (74).
-#'
-#' @export
-excluded_locations <- c("78", "74", "69", "66", "60")
-
-#' Two digits FIPS codes for locations included in Hubs'
-#' target data.
-#'
-#' Includes 50 states, US national, DC, and Puerto Rico
-#' (PR). Excludes Virgin Islands (78), Northern Mariana
-#' Islands (69), Guam (66), American Samoa (60), and Minor
-#' Outlying Islands (74).
-#'
-#' @export
-included_locations <- c(
-  "01",
-  "02",
-  "04",
-  "05",
-  "06",
-  "08",
-  "09",
-  "10",
-  "11",
-  "12",
-  "13",
-  "15",
-  "16",
-  "17",
-  "18",
-  "19",
-  "20",
-  "21",
-  "22",
-  "23",
-  "24",
-  "25",
-  "26",
-  "27",
-  "28",
-  "29",
-  "30",
-  "31",
-  "32",
-  "33",
-  "34",
-  "35",
-  "36",
-  "37",
-  "38",
-  "39",
-  "40",
-  "41",
-  "42",
-  "44",
-  "45",
-  "46",
-  "47",
-  "48",
-  "49",
-  "50",
-  "51",
-  "53",
-  "54",
-  "55",
-  "56",
-  "72",
-  "US"
-)
+# constants used across hubhelpr functions.
diff --git a/R/location_exclusions.R b/R/location_exclusions.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c2213d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/location_exclusions.R
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+#' Normalize excluded locations to a named list.
+#'
+#' Converts a character vector or named list of excluded
+#' locations into a consistent named list format.
+#' Validates that all abbreviations are valid US
+#' state/territory abbreviations.
+#'
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of character vectors.
+#'
+#' @return Named list of character vectors, or NULL if
+#' input is NULL or zero-length.
+#' @noRd
+normalize_excluded_locations <- function(excluded_locations) {
+  if (is.null(excluded_locations) || length(excluded_locations) == 0) {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
+  if (is.character(excluded_locations)) {
+    assert_valid_location_abbrs(excluded_locations)
+    return(list("all" = excluded_locations))
+  }
+  if (is.list(excluded_locations)) {
+    purrr::walk(excluded_locations, function(x) {
+      checkmate::assert_character(
+        x,
+        .var.name = "excluded_locations list values"
+      )
+      assert_valid_location_abbrs(x)
+    })
+    return(excluded_locations)
+  }
+  cli::cli_abort(
+    "{.arg excluded_locations} must be NULL, a character vector, or a named list."
+  )
+}
+
+
+#' Assert that location abbreviations are valid.
+#'
+#' Checks that all provided abbreviations are present
+#' in the US location table (from forecasttools).
+#' Errors with a message listing any invalid
+#' abbreviations.
+#'
+#' @param abbrs Character vector of abbreviations to
+#' validate.
+#'
+#' @return Invisible NULL. Called for side effects.
+#' @noRd
+assert_valid_location_abbrs <- function(abbrs) {
+  valid_abbrs <- forecasttools::us_location_table$abbr
+  invalid <- setdiff(abbrs, valid_abbrs)
+  if (length(invalid) > 0) {
+    cli::cli_abort(
+      "{.arg excluded_locations} contains invalid abbreviation{?s}: {.val {invalid}}."
+    )
+  }
+}
+
+
+#' Get excluded abbreviations for a specific target.
+#'
+#' Extracts the abbreviations that should be excluded
+#' for a given target from a normalized exclusion list,
+#' combining global ("all") exclusions with any
+#' target-specific ones.
+#'
+#' @param normalized Named list as returned by
+#' `normalize_excluded_locations()`.
+#' @param target Character, the target name.
+#'
+#' @return Character vector of unique abbreviations to
+#' exclude for this target.
+#' @noRd
+get_target_exclusions <- function(normalized, target) {
+  unique(c(normalized[["all"]], normalized[[target]]))
+}
+
+
+#' Apply target-specific location exclusions to a data
+#' frame.
+#'
+#' Removes rows from a data frame based on
+#' target-specific excluded location abbreviations.
+#' Supports uniform exclusions (character vector applied
+#' to all targets) and target-specific exclusions (named
+#' list with target names as keys). Validates target
+#' names against the targets present in the data.
+#' Filters on the "target" and "location" columns via
+#' anti-join.
+#'
+#' @param data Data frame with "target" and "location"
+#' columns.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are
+#' excluded across all targets. If a named list, names
+#' should be target names (or "all" for global
+#' exclusions) mapping to character vectors of
+#' abbreviations.
+#'
+#' @return Data frame with excluded rows removed.
+#' @export
+apply_target_location_exclusions <- function(
+  data,
+  excluded_locations
+) {
+  normalized <- normalize_excluded_locations(excluded_locations)
+  if (is.null(normalized)) {
+    return(data)
+  }
+
+  data_targets <- unique(data$target)
+  named_targets <- setdiff(names(normalized), "all")
+  unmatched <- setdiff(named_targets, data_targets)
+  if (length(unmatched) > 0) {
+    cli::cli_warn(
+      "{.arg excluded_locations} contains target{?s} not in data: {.val {unmatched}}."
+    )
+  }
+
+  exclusion_df <- purrr::map_df(data_targets, \(tgt) {
+    excl_abbrs <- get_target_exclusions(normalized, tgt)
+    if (length(excl_abbrs) == 0) {
+      return(tibble::tibble(target = character(), location = character()))
+    }
+    tibble::tibble(
+      target = tgt,
+      location = forecasttools::us_location_recode(excl_abbrs, "abbr", "hub")
+    )
+  })
+
+  dplyr::anti_join(
+    data,
+    exclusion_df,
+    by = c("target", "location")
+  )
+}
+
+
+#' Filter data to included locations only.
+#'
+#' Only keeps rows where location is in the set of
+#' valid US locations minus any excluded locations for
+#' that target.
+#'
+#' @param data Data frame with "target" and "location"
+#' columns.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude.
+#'
+#' @return Data frame filtered to included locations.
+#' @noRd
+filter_to_included_locations <- function(
+  data,
+  excluded_locations
+) {
+  normalized <- normalize_excluded_locations(excluded_locations)
+  all_valid_codes <- forecasttools::us_location_table$code
+
+  purrr::map_df(unique(data$target), \(tgt) {
+    if (!is.null(normalized)) {
+      excl_abbrs <- get_target_exclusions(normalized, tgt)
+      excl_codes <- forecasttools::us_location_recode(
+        excl_abbrs,
+        "abbr",
+        "hub"
+      )
+      included_codes <- setdiff(all_valid_codes, excl_codes)
+    } else {
+      included_codes <- all_valid_codes
+    }
+    dplyr::filter(data, .data$target == tgt, .data$location %in% included_codes)
+  })
+}
diff --git a/R/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.R b/R/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.R
index b6fafb5..f8b07ea 100644
--- a/R/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.R
+++ b/R/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.R
@@ -1,72 +1,3 @@
-#' Normalize excluded locations to a named list.
-#'
-#' Converts a character vector or named list of excluded
-#' locations into a consistent named list format.
-#'
-#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
-#' named list of character vector.
-#'
-#' @return Named list of character vectors.
-#' @noRd
-normalize_excluded_locations <- function(excluded_locations) {
-  if (is.null(excluded_locations)) {
-    return(list())
-  }
-  if (is.character(excluded_locations)) {
-    return(list("all" = excluded_locations))
-  }
-  if (is.list(excluded_locations)) {
-    return(excluded_locations)
-  }
-  cli::cli_abort(
-    "{.arg excluded_locations} must be NULL, a character vector, or a named list."
-  )
-}
-
-
-#' Build a target-location exclusion data frame.
-#'
-#' Constructs a tibble of target/location pairs to
-#' exclude. Entries keyed by "all" are expanded into
-#' one row per supported target. Errors if any named
-#' targets in the exclusion list are not in
-#' `supported_targets`.
-#'
-#' @param excluded_locations Named list as returned by
-#' `normalize_excluded_locations()`.
-#' @param supported_targets character vector of targets
-#' the hub accepts, as returned by
-#' `get_hub_supported_targets()`.
-#'
-#' @return A tibble with columns "target" and "location"
-#' (hub codes).
-#' @noRd
-build_exclusion_df <- function(excluded_locations, supported_targets) {
-  named_targets <- setdiff(names(excluded_locations), "all")
-  invalid_targets <- setdiff(named_targets, supported_targets)
-  if (length(invalid_targets) > 0) {
-    cli::cli_abort(
-      "{.arg excluded_locations} contains unknown target{?s}: {.val {invalid_targets}}."
-    )
-  }
-
-  merged <- purrr::map(
-    purrr::set_names(supported_targets),
-    \(tgt) unique(c(excluded_locations[["all"]], excluded_locations[[tgt]]))
-  )
-
-  tibble::enframe(merged, name = "target", value = "location") |>
-    tidyr::unnest(cols = "location") |>
-    dplyr::mutate(
-      location = forecasttools::us_location_recode(
-        .data$location,
-        "abbr",
-        "hub"
-      )
-    )
-}
-
-
 #' Summarize forecast hub data for a specific reference date.
 #'
 #' This function generates a tibble of forecast data
@@ -84,13 +15,13 @@ build_exclusion_df <- function(excluded_locations, supported_targets) {
 #' and "population". Adds population-based calculations.
 #' @param horizons_to_include integer vector, horizons to
 #' include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).
-#' @param excluded_locations character vector or named list
-#' specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-#' character vector, locations are excluded across all
-#' targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-#' (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-#' vectors of abbreviations. Converted to hub codes
-#' internally. Default: NULL.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Converted to
+#' hub codes internally. Default: NULL (no exclusions).
 #' @param targets character vector, target name(s) to filter
 #' forecasts. If NULL (default), does not filter by target.
 #' @param model_ids character vector of model IDs to include.
@@ -110,7 +41,6 @@ summarize_ref_date_forecasts <- function(
   model_ids = NULL
 ) {
   reference_date <- lubridate::as_date(reference_date)
-  excluded_locations <- normalize_excluded_locations(excluded_locations)
 
   model_metadata <- hubData::load_model_metadata(
     base_hub_path,
@@ -130,11 +60,10 @@ summarize_ref_date_forecasts <- function(
       forecasttools::nullable_comparison(.data$model_id, "%in%", !!model_ids)
     )
 
-  supported_targets <- get_hub_supported_targets(base_hub_path)
-  exclusion_df <- build_exclusion_df(excluded_locations, supported_targets)
-
-  current_forecasts <- current_forecasts |>
-    dplyr::anti_join(exclusion_df, by = c("target", "location"))
+  current_forecasts <- apply_target_location_exclusions(
+    current_forecasts,
+    excluded_locations
+  )
 
   if (nrow(current_forecasts) == 0) {
     model_filter_msg <- if (!is.null(model_ids)) {
diff --git a/R/update_hub_target_data.R b/R/update_hub_target_data.R
index db6f1e6..c7a6b08 100644
--- a/R/update_hub_target_data.R
+++ b/R/update_hub_target_data.R
@@ -69,9 +69,6 @@ merge_target_data <- function(
 #' @param disease Disease name ("covid" or "rsv").
 #' @param as_of As-of date of the data pull. Default is
 #' the system date as determined by [lubridate::today()].
-#' @param included_locations Vector of location codes to
-#' include in the output.
-#' Default value `hubhelpr::included_locations`.
 #' @param start_date First week-ending
 #' date to include for the NHSN dataset. Default value
 #' is NULL (no filtering).
@@ -84,7 +81,6 @@ merge_target_data <- function(
 get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data <- function(
   disease,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL
 ) {
@@ -109,7 +105,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data <- function(
       as_of = !!as_of,
       target = glue::glue("wk inc {disease} hosp")
     ) |>
-    dplyr::filter(.data$location %in% !!included_locations) |>
     dplyr::select(tidyselect::all_of(hubverse_ts_req_cols))
 
   return(hubverse_format_nhsn_data)
@@ -124,9 +119,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data <- function(
 #' @param base_hub_path Path to the base hub directory.
 #' @param as_of As-of date of the data pull. Default is
 #' the system date as determined by [lubridate::today()].
-#' @param included_locations Vector of location codes to
-#' include in the output.
-#' Default value `hubhelpr::included_locations`.
 #' @param nssp_update_local Logical. Whether to update NSSP
 #' data from local file `auxiliary-data/latest.parquet`
 #' (default: FALSE).
@@ -143,7 +135,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nssp_data <- function(
   disease,
   base_hub_path,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   nssp_update_local = FALSE,
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL
@@ -194,7 +185,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nssp_data <- function(
       as_of = !!as_of,
       target = glue::glue("wk inc {disease} prop ed visits")
     ) |>
-    dplyr::filter(.data$location %in% !!included_locations) |>
     dplyr::select(tidyselect::all_of(hubverse_ts_req_cols)) |>
     dplyr::arrange(.data$date, .data$location)
 
@@ -215,9 +205,13 @@ get_hubverse_format_nssp_data <- function(
 #' @param start_date First week-ending
 #' date to include for the NHSN dataset. Default value
 #' is "2024-11-09".
-#' @param included_locations Vector of location codes to
-#' include in the output.
-#' Default value `hubhelpr::included_locations`.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+#' (no exclusions).
 #' @param legacy_file Logical. Whether to write legacy
 #' CSV output (default: FALSE).
 #' @param nssp_update_local Logical. Whether to update NSSP
@@ -237,7 +231,7 @@ update_hub_target_data <- function(
   disease,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
   start_date = lubridate::as_date("2024-11-09"),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   legacy_file = FALSE,
   nssp_update_local = FALSE,
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
@@ -247,7 +241,6 @@ update_hub_target_data <- function(
   nhsn_data <- get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data(
     disease,
     as_of = as_of,
-    included_locations = included_locations,
     start_date = start_date
   )
 
@@ -263,7 +256,6 @@ update_hub_target_data <- function(
     disease,
     base_hub_path,
     as_of = as_of,
-    included_locations = included_locations,
     nssp_update_local = nssp_update_local
   )
 
@@ -304,6 +296,11 @@ update_hub_target_data <- function(
 
   new_data <- dplyr::bind_rows(nhsn_data, nssp_data)
 
+  new_data <- filter_to_included_locations(
+    new_data,
+    excluded_locations
+  )
+
   if (fs::file_exists(output_file)) {
     existing_data <- forecasttools::read_tabular(output_file)
   } else {
diff --git a/R/write_ref_date_summary.R b/R/write_ref_date_summary.R
index dcdc53b..94e5793 100644
--- a/R/write_ref_date_summary.R
+++ b/R/write_ref_date_summary.R
@@ -81,12 +81,13 @@ write_ref_date_summary <- function(
 #' include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).
 #' @param population_data data frame with columns
 #' "location" and "population". Default: population_data.
-#' @param excluded_locations character vector or named list
-#' specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-#' character vector, locations are excluded across all
-#' targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-#' (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-#' vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+#' (no exclusions).
 #' @param output_format character, output file format. One
 #' of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".
 #' @param targets character vector, target name(s) to
@@ -196,12 +197,13 @@ write_ref_date_summary_ens <- function(
 #' include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).
 #' @param population_data data frame with columns
 #' "location" and "population". Default: [population_data].
-#' @param excluded_locations character vector or named list
-#' specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-#' character vector, locations are excluded across all
-#' targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-#' (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-#' vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+#' (no exclusions).
 #' @param output_format character, output file format. One
 #' of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".
 #' @param targets character vector, target name(s) to
diff --git a/R/write_viz_target_data.R b/R/write_viz_target_data.R
index b7bc06e..07afd6c 100644
--- a/R/write_viz_target_data.R
+++ b/R/write_viz_target_data.R
@@ -27,16 +27,13 @@
 #' @param end_date Date, latest date to include in data.
 #' Default: NULL (no filtering). Used only when
 #' use_hub_data = FALSE.
-#' @param included_locations Character vector of location
-#' codes to include in the output. Default
-#' hubhelpr::included_locations.
-#' @param excluded_locations Character vector or named list
-#' specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-#' character vector, locations are excluded across all
-#' targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-#' (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-#' vectors of abbreviations. Converted to hub codes
-#' internally. Default: NULL.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Converted to
+#' hub codes internally. Default: NULL (no exclusions).
 #' @param output_format Character, output file format. One
 #' of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".
 #' @param overwrite_existing logical. If TRUE, overwrite
@@ -55,7 +52,6 @@ write_viz_target_data <- function(
   as_of = "latest",
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   excluded_locations = NULL,
   output_format = "csv",
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
@@ -63,7 +59,6 @@ write_viz_target_data <- function(
   if (use_hub_data) {
     target_data <- hubData::connect_target_timeseries(base_hub_path) |>
       forecasttools::hub_target_data_as_of(as_of = as_of) |>
-      dplyr::filter(.data$location %in% !!included_locations) |>
       dplyr::collect()
   } else {
     nhsn_data <- get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data(
@@ -89,12 +84,17 @@ write_viz_target_data <- function(
     target_data <- dplyr::bind_rows(nhsn_data, nssp_data)
   }
 
-  excluded_locations <- normalize_excluded_locations(excluded_locations)
-  supported_targets <- get_hub_supported_targets(base_hub_path)
-  exclusion_df <- build_exclusion_df(excluded_locations, supported_targets)
-
-  target_data <- target_data |>
-    dplyr::anti_join(exclusion_df, by = c("target", "location"))
+  if (use_hub_data) {
+    target_data <- apply_target_location_exclusions(
+      target_data,
+      excluded_locations
+    )
+  } else {
+    target_data <- filter_to_included_locations(
+      target_data,
+      excluded_locations
+    )
+  }
 
   target_data <- target_data |>
     dplyr::mutate(
diff --git a/R/write_webtext.R b/R/write_webtext.R
index 75c0846..8c5b4b3 100644
--- a/R/write_webtext.R
+++ b/R/write_webtext.R
@@ -9,19 +9,34 @@
 #' forecast.
 #' @param disease Character, disease name ("covid" or
 #' "rsv").
-#' @param included_locations Character vector of location
-#' codes that are expected to report. Default
-#' hubhelpr::included_locations.
+#' @param excluded_locations Character vector of US
+#' state/territory abbreviations to exclude from
+#' expected reporting locations. Default: NULL (no
+#' exclusions).
 #'
 #' @return Character string describing reporting issues,
 #' or empty string if no issues.
 check_hospital_reporting_rate <- function(
   reference_date,
   disease,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations
+  excluded_locations = NULL
 ) {
   desired_weekendingdate <- as.Date(reference_date) - lubridate::dweeks(1)
 
+  if (!is.null(excluded_locations) && length(excluded_locations) > 0) {
+    excluded_codes <- forecasttools::us_location_recode(
+      excluded_locations,
+      "abbr",
+      "hub"
+    )
+  } else {
+    excluded_codes <- character(0)
+  }
+  expected_locations <- setdiff(
+    forecasttools::us_location_table$code,
+    excluded_codes
+  )
+
   disease_abbr <- dplyr::case_match(
     disease,
     "covid" ~ "c19",
@@ -33,7 +48,7 @@ check_hospital_reporting_rate <- function(
   )
 
   included_jurisdictions <- forecasttools::us_location_recode(
-    included_locations,
+    expected_locations,
     "code",
     "hrd"
   )
@@ -63,7 +78,7 @@ check_hospital_reporting_rate <- function(
     )
 
   locations_in_data <- unique(percent_hosp_reporting_below80$location)
-  missing_locations <- setdiff(included_locations, locations_in_data)
+  missing_locations <- setdiff(expected_locations, locations_in_data)
 
   if (length(missing_locations) > 0) {
     missing_location_names <- forecasttools::us_location_recode(
@@ -173,8 +188,10 @@ compute_change_direction <- function(
 #' @param all_model_metadata Data frame of model metadata.
 #' @param hub_name Character, hub name.
 #' @param reference_date Date, the reference date.
-#' @param included_locations Character vector of location
-#' codes.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. Target-specific exclusions are resolved
+#' before passing to hospital reporting latency checks.
 #'
 #' @return Named list of template placeholder values with
 #' keys prefixed by the target data type.
@@ -188,7 +205,7 @@ compute_target_webtext_values <- function(
   all_model_metadata,
   hub_name,
   reference_date,
-  included_locations
+  excluded_locations
 ) {
   target_type <- get_target_data_type(target)
 
@@ -290,10 +307,14 @@ compute_target_webtext_values <- function(
 
   # add hospital reporting flag if applicable
   if (is_hosp_target(target)) {
+    normalized <- normalize_excluded_locations(excluded_locations)
+    hosp_exclusions <- if (!is.null(normalized)) {
+      get_target_exclusions(normalized, target)
+    }
     values[["hosp_reporting_flag_text"]] <- check_hospital_reporting_rate(
       reference_date = reference_date,
       disease = disease,
-      included_locations = included_locations
+      excluded_locations = hosp_exclusions
     )
   }
 
@@ -317,9 +338,13 @@ compute_target_webtext_values <- function(
 #' with weekly summary files.
 #' @param targets Character vector of target names to
 #' generate text for.
-#' @param included_locations Character vector of location
-#' codes that are expected to report. Default
-#' hubhelpr::included_locations.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+#' (no exclusions).
 #' @param input_format Character, input file format for
 #' reading summary data files. One of "csv", "tsv", or
 #' "parquet". Default: "csv".
@@ -333,7 +358,7 @@ generate_webtext_block <- function(
   base_hub_path,
   weekly_data_path,
   targets,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   input_format = "csv"
 ) {
   checkmate::assert_choice(disease, choices = c("covid", "rsv"))
@@ -395,7 +420,7 @@ generate_webtext_block <- function(
     all_model_metadata = all_model_metadata,
     hub_name = hub_name,
     reference_date = reference_date,
-    included_locations = included_locations
+    excluded_locations = excluded_locations
   ) |>
     purrr::list_flatten()
 
@@ -453,9 +478,13 @@ generate_webtext_block <- function(
 #' @param targets Character vector of target names to
 #' generate text for. Default NULL discovers targets
 #' from hub time-series data.
-#' @param included_locations Character vector of location
-#' codes that are expected to report. Default
-#' hubhelpr::included_locations.
+#' @param excluded_locations NULL, character vector, or
+#' named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+#' exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+#' across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+#' target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+#' to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+#' (no exclusions).
 #' @param input_format Character, input file format for
 #' reading summary data files. One of "csv", "tsv", or
 #' "parquet". Default: "csv".
@@ -469,7 +498,7 @@ write_webtext <- function(
   base_hub_path,
   hub_reports_path,
   targets = NULL,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   input_format = "csv",
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
 ) {
@@ -492,7 +521,7 @@ write_webtext <- function(
     base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
     weekly_data_path = weekly_data_path,
     targets = targets,
-    included_locations = included_locations,
+    excluded_locations = excluded_locations,
     input_format = input_format
   )
 
diff --git a/_typos.toml b/_typos.toml
index cbf651c..aa5938f 100644
--- a/_typos.toml
+++ b/_typos.toml
@@ -1,10 +1,3 @@
-[default]
-extend-ignore-identifiers-re = [
-    "AttributeID.*Supress.*",
-]
-
-[default.extend-identifiers]
-AttributeIDSupressMenu = "AttributeIDSupressMenu"
 
 [default.extend-words]
 # words that should not be corrected
diff --git a/actions/generate-viz-data/action.yaml b/actions/generate-viz-data/action.yaml
index 707dcce..3e54226 100644
--- a/actions/generate-viz-data/action.yaml
+++ b/actions/generate-viz-data/action.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ inputs:
     required: false
     default: ""
   excluded_locations:
-    description: "JSON array of US state/territory abbreviations to exclude from output (e.g., '[\"VI\", \"GU\", \"AS\", \"MP\", \"UM\"]'). Also accepts a JSON object for target-specific exclusions (e.g., '{\"all\": [\"UM\"], \"wk inc covid hosp\": [\"MA\"]}'). Defaults to no exclusions."
+    description: "JSON array or object of US state/territory abbreviations to exclude. Array (e.g., '[\"VI\", \"GU\"]') excludes from all targets. Object (e.g., '{\"all\": [\"VI\"], \"wk inc covid hosp\": [\"GU\"]}') supports target-specific exclusions. Defaults to no exclusions."
     required: false
     default: "[]"
 
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ runs:
           disease = disease,
           base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
           hub_reports_path = hub_reports_path,
-          targets = targets
+          targets = targets,
+          excluded_locations = excluded_locations
         )
 
         writeLines(
diff --git a/actions/update-target-data/action.yaml b/actions/update-target-data/action.yaml
index 8a4bac8..fc3dabf 100644
--- a/actions/update-target-data/action.yaml
+++ b/actions/update-target-data/action.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ inputs:
     description: "Whether to overwrite existing target data files ('true' or 'false')."
     required: false
     default: "false"
+  excluded_locations:
+    description: "JSON array or object of US state/territory abbreviations to exclude. Array (e.g., '[\"VI\", \"GU\"]') excludes from all targets. Object (e.g., '{\"all\": [\"VI\"], \"wk inc covid hosp\": [\"GU\"]}') supports target-specific exclusions. Defaults to no exclusions."
+    required: false
+    default: "[]"
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
@@ -42,10 +46,16 @@ runs:
         DATA_CDC_GOV_API_KEY_SECRET: ${{ inputs.api_key_secret }}
       run: |
         today <- lubridate::today()
+
+        excluded_locations <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+          '${{ inputs.excluded_locations }}'
+        )
+
         hubhelpr::update_hub_target_data(
           base_hub_path = "${{ inputs.base_hub_path }}",
           disease = "${{ inputs.disease }}",
           as_of = today,
+          excluded_locations = excluded_locations,
           legacy_file = as.logical("${{ inputs.legacy_file }}"),
           nssp_update_local = as.logical("${{ inputs.nssp_update_local }}"),
           overwrite_existing = as.logical("${{ inputs.overwrite_existing }}")
diff --git a/man/apply_target_location_exclusions.Rd b/man/apply_target_location_exclusions.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3531b9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/apply_target_location_exclusions.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/location_exclusions.R
+\name{apply_target_location_exclusions}
+\alias{apply_target_location_exclusions}
+\title{Apply target-specific location exclusions to a data
+frame.}
+\usage{
+apply_target_location_exclusions(data, excluded_locations)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{data}{Data frame with "target" and "location"
+columns.}
+
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are
+excluded across all targets. If a named list, names
+should be target names (or "all" for global
+exclusions) mapping to character vectors of
+abbreviations.}
+}
+\value{
+Data frame with excluded rows removed.
+}
+\description{
+Removes rows from a data frame based on
+target-specific excluded location abbreviations.
+Supports uniform exclusions (character vector applied
+to all targets) and target-specific exclusions (named
+list with target names as keys). Validates target
+names against the targets present in the data.
+Filters on the "target" and "location" columns via
+anti-join.
+}
diff --git a/man/check_hospital_reporting_rate.Rd b/man/check_hospital_reporting_rate.Rd
index 491db40..03835bb 100644
--- a/man/check_hospital_reporting_rate.Rd
+++ b/man/check_hospital_reporting_rate.Rd
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 check_hospital_reporting_rate(
   reference_date,
   disease,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations
+  excluded_locations = NULL
 )
 }
 \arguments{
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ forecast.}
 \item{disease}{Character, disease name ("covid" or
 "rsv").}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Character vector of location
-codes that are expected to report. Default
-hubhelpr::included_locations.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{Character vector of US
+state/territory abbreviations to exclude from
+expected reporting locations. Default: NULL (no
+exclusions).}
 }
 \value{
 Character string describing reporting issues,
diff --git a/man/excluded_locations.Rd b/man/excluded_locations.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 8686e50..0000000
--- a/man/excluded_locations.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/constants.R
-\docType{data}
-\name{excluded_locations}
-\alias{excluded_locations}
-\title{Two digits FIPS codes for locations excluded from Hubs'
-target data.}
-\format{
-An object of class \code{character} of length 5.
-}
-\usage{
-excluded_locations
-}
-\description{
-Excludes Virgin Islands (78), Northern Mariana
-Islands (69), Guam (66), American Samoa (60), and Minor
-Outlying Islands (74).
-}
-\keyword{datasets}
diff --git a/man/generate_webtext_block.Rd b/man/generate_webtext_block.Rd
index 4be93b1..3532c69 100644
--- a/man/generate_webtext_block.Rd
+++ b/man/generate_webtext_block.Rd
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ generate_webtext_block(
   base_hub_path,
   weekly_data_path,
   targets,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   input_format = "csv"
 )
 }
@@ -30,9 +30,13 @@ with weekly summary files.}
 \item{targets}{Character vector of target names to
 generate text for.}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Character vector of location
-codes that are expected to report. Default
-hubhelpr::included_locations.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+(no exclusions).}
 
 \item{input_format}{Character, input file format for
 reading summary data files. One of "csv", "tsv", or
diff --git a/man/get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data.Rd b/man/get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data.Rd
index 405d684..e152a75 100644
--- a/man/get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data.Rd
+++ b/man/get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data.Rd
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data(
   disease,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL
 )
@@ -18,10 +17,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nhsn_data(
 \item{as_of}{As-of date of the data pull. Default is
 the system date as determined by \code{\link[lubridate:now]{lubridate::today()}}.}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Vector of location codes to
-include in the output.
-Default value \code{hubhelpr::included_locations}.}
-
 \item{start_date}{First week-ending
 date to include for the NHSN dataset. Default value
 is NULL (no filtering).}
diff --git a/man/get_hubverse_format_nssp_data.Rd b/man/get_hubverse_format_nssp_data.Rd
index 099dc81..1685985 100644
--- a/man/get_hubverse_format_nssp_data.Rd
+++ b/man/get_hubverse_format_nssp_data.Rd
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nssp_data(
   disease,
   base_hub_path,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   nssp_update_local = FALSE,
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL
@@ -22,10 +21,6 @@ get_hubverse_format_nssp_data(
 \item{as_of}{As-of date of the data pull. Default is
 the system date as determined by \code{\link[lubridate:now]{lubridate::today()}}.}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Vector of location codes to
-include in the output.
-Default value \code{hubhelpr::included_locations}.}
-
 \item{nssp_update_local}{Logical. Whether to update NSSP
 data from local file \code{auxiliary-data/latest.parquet}
 (default: FALSE).}
diff --git a/man/included_locations.Rd b/man/included_locations.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 593e3e8..0000000
--- a/man/included_locations.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/constants.R
-\docType{data}
-\name{included_locations}
-\alias{included_locations}
-\title{Two digits FIPS codes for locations included in Hubs'
-target data.}
-\format{
-An object of class \code{character} of length 53.
-}
-\usage{
-included_locations
-}
-\description{
-Includes 50 states, US national, DC, and Puerto Rico
-(PR). Excludes Virgin Islands (78), Northern Mariana
-Islands (69), Guam (66), American Samoa (60), and Minor
-Outlying Islands (74).
-}
-\keyword{datasets}
diff --git a/man/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.Rd b/man/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.Rd
index 07659b3..93d3ac3 100644
--- a/man/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.Rd
+++ b/man/summarize_ref_date_forecasts.Rd
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ and "population". Adds population-based calculations.}
 \item{horizons_to_include}{integer vector, horizons to
 include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).}
 
-\item{excluded_locations}{character vector or named list
-specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-character vector, locations are excluded across all
-targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-(or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-vectors of abbreviations. Converted to hub codes
-internally. Default: NULL.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Converted to
+hub codes internally. Default: NULL (no exclusions).}
 
 \item{targets}{character vector, target name(s) to filter
 forecasts. If NULL (default), does not filter by target.}
diff --git a/man/update_hub_target_data.Rd b/man/update_hub_target_data.Rd
index 394abc3..9d4efde 100644
--- a/man/update_hub_target_data.Rd
+++ b/man/update_hub_target_data.Rd
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ update_hub_target_data(
   disease,
   as_of = lubridate::today(),
   start_date = lubridate::as_date("2024-11-09"),
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   legacy_file = FALSE,
   nssp_update_local = FALSE,
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
@@ -27,9 +27,13 @@ the system date as determined by \code{\link[lubridate:now]{lubridate::today()}}
 date to include for the NHSN dataset. Default value
 is "2024-11-09".}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Vector of location codes to
-include in the output.
-Default value \code{hubhelpr::included_locations}.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+(no exclusions).}
 
 \item{legacy_file}{Logical. Whether to write legacy
 CSV output (default: FALSE).}
diff --git a/man/write_ref_date_summary_all.Rd b/man/write_ref_date_summary_all.Rd
index b63d78a..3266a9e 100644
--- a/man/write_ref_date_summary_all.Rd
+++ b/man/write_ref_date_summary_all.Rd
@@ -35,12 +35,13 @@ include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).}
 \item{population_data}{data frame with columns
 "location" and "population". Default: \link{population_data}.}
 
-\item{excluded_locations}{character vector or named list
-specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-character vector, locations are excluded across all
-targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-(or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+(no exclusions).}
 
 \item{output_format}{character, output file format. One
 of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".}
diff --git a/man/write_ref_date_summary_ens.Rd b/man/write_ref_date_summary_ens.Rd
index fabd11d..0e95a4f 100644
--- a/man/write_ref_date_summary_ens.Rd
+++ b/man/write_ref_date_summary_ens.Rd
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@ include in the output. Default: c(0, 1, 2).}
 \item{population_data}{data frame with columns
 "location" and "population". Default: population_data.}
 
-\item{excluded_locations}{character vector or named list
-specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-character vector, locations are excluded across all
-targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-(or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+(no exclusions).}
 
 \item{output_format}{character, output file format. One
 of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".}
diff --git a/man/write_viz_target_data.Rd b/man/write_viz_target_data.Rd
index 97f6213..7802647 100644
--- a/man/write_viz_target_data.Rd
+++ b/man/write_viz_target_data.Rd
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ write_viz_target_data(
   as_of = "latest",
   start_date = NULL,
   end_date = NULL,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
   excluded_locations = NULL,
   output_format = "csv",
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
@@ -48,17 +47,13 @@ use_hub_data = FALSE.}
 Default: NULL (no filtering). Used only when
 use_hub_data = FALSE.}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Character vector of location
-codes to include in the output. Default
-hubhelpr::included_locations.}
-
-\item{excluded_locations}{Character vector or named list
-specifying US state abbreviations to exclude. If a
-character vector, locations are excluded across all
-targets. If a named list, names should be target names
-(or "all" for global exclusions) mapping to character
-vectors of abbreviations. Converted to hub codes
-internally. Default: NULL.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Converted to
+hub codes internally. Default: NULL (no exclusions).}
 
 \item{output_format}{Character, output file format. One
 of "csv", "tsv", or "parquet". Default: "csv".}
diff --git a/man/write_webtext.Rd b/man/write_webtext.Rd
index ec29a61..c7d54b4 100644
--- a/man/write_webtext.Rd
+++ b/man/write_webtext.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ write_webtext(
   base_hub_path,
   hub_reports_path,
   targets = NULL,
-  included_locations = hubhelpr::included_locations,
+  excluded_locations = NULL,
   input_format = "csv",
   overwrite_existing = FALSE
 )
@@ -32,9 +32,13 @@ reports directory.}
 generate text for. Default NULL discovers targets
 from hub time-series data.}
 
-\item{included_locations}{Character vector of location
-codes that are expected to report. Default
-hubhelpr::included_locations.}
+\item{excluded_locations}{NULL, character vector, or
+named list of US state/territory abbreviations to
+exclude. If a character vector, locations are excluded
+across all targets. If a named list, names should be
+target names (or "all" for global exclusions) mapping
+to character vectors of abbreviations. Default: NULL
+(no exclusions).}
 
 \item{input_format}{Character, input file format for
 reading summary data files. One of "csv", "tsv", or
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_update_hub_target_data.R b/tests/testthat/test_update_hub_target_data.R
index 8271635..18ac7b0 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_update_hub_target_data.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_update_hub_target_data.R
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ if (fs::dir_exists(mockdir_tests)) {
   )
 }
 
+test_excluded_locations <- c("VI", "GU", "AS", "MP", "UM")
+
 purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
   test_that(
     glue::glue("update_hub_target_data returns expected data for {disease}"),
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@ purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
           base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
           disease = disease,
           as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18"),
+          excluded_locations = test_excluded_locations
         )
 
         target_ts <- forecasttools::read_tabular_file(output_file)
@@ -38,9 +41,17 @@ purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
             glue::glue("wk inc {disease} hosp")
           )
         )
+        excluded_codes <- forecasttools::us_location_recode(
+          test_excluded_locations,
+          "abbr",
+          "hub"
+        )
         expect_setequal(
           unique(target_ts$location),
-          setdiff(forecasttools::us_location_table$code, excluded_locations)
+          setdiff(
+            forecasttools::us_location_table$code,
+            excluded_codes
+          )
         )
       })
     }
@@ -80,7 +91,8 @@ purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
         hubhelpr::update_hub_target_data(
           base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
           disease = disease,
-          as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18")
+          as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18"),
+          excluded_locations = test_excluded_locations
         )
 
         # second run with same data errors by default
@@ -88,7 +100,8 @@ purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
           hubhelpr::update_hub_target_data(
             base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
             disease = disease,
-            as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18")
+            as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18"),
+            excluded_locations = test_excluded_locations
           ),
           "overwrite"
         )
@@ -99,6 +112,7 @@ purrr::walk(c("covid", "rsv"), function(disease) {
           base_hub_path = base_hub_path,
           disease = disease,
           as_of = lubridate::as_date("2025-08-18"),
+          excluded_locations = test_excluded_locations,
           overwrite_existing = TRUE
         )
       })