<p>Vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity are key concepts for understanding the societal preparedness for, and impact of, natural hazards and environmental change. These metrics are often assessed through composite indicators, which are valued for the simplicity of their interpretation and use but are also subject to significant uncertainties associated with the construction process and input data choices. While adaptive capacity is frequently treated as a sub-component in broader vulnerability or resilience assessments, fewer studies focus specifically on adaptive capacity itself or aim to refine its assessment methods. This study addresses these gaps by (1) evaluating how an adaptive capacity composite index is shaped by the index construction process and the context of the sample; and (2) developing a methodology to create an index that synthesizes information from multiple index variants. Using the same methods and spatial scales (U.S. census tracts in the State of Kansas), this research compares the determinants of adaptive capacity across distinct socio-economic contexts—metro, non-metro, and farming counties. The findings confirm that adaptive capacity determinants and index scores vary based on construction method and context, challenging the “one-size-fits-all” approach even within a single state. We propose context-dependent composite indices that can be ensembled, offering a more tailored measure of adaptive capacity for different places that is still relevant to decision-makers operating at higher administrative levels.</p>