Jefferson County, AL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 33.55, -86.90.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 43rd pct · 1,731st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 68th pct · 22nd of 67 Alabama counties · median $177,293
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median $221,906
- 34th pct · 2,007th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 36th pct · 43rd of 67 Alabama counties · median +2.4%
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median +3.3%
- 34th pct · 896th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 38th pct · 17th of 27 Alabama counties · median $1,378
- 20th pct · 5th of 6 counties in the Birmingham metro · median $1,411
- 97th pct · 77th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 67 Alabama counties · median 10,118
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median 18,474
- 94th pct · 181st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 96th pct · 3rd of 67 Alabama counties · median $1,024
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median $1,039
- 13th pct · 2,654th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 25th pct · 50th of 67 Alabama counties · median 3.3
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median 4.5
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $214,208 (Sep 2026), +1.5% over one year, +14.3% over five
- 43rd pct · 1,731st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 68th pct · 22nd of 67 Alabama counties · median $177,293
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median $221,906
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, AL | $214,208 · +1.5% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $1,339/mo (Sep 2026), +3.3% over one year; price-to-rent 13.3
- 34th pct · 896th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 38th pct · 17th of 27 Alabama counties · median $1,378
- 20th pct · 5th of 6 counties in the Birmingham metro · median $1,411
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, AL | $1,339/mo · +3.3% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $1,187 a month on $214,208 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,847 a month: 17.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $214,208 × 80% = $171,366, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,187/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,580 × 52 / 12 = $6,847) = 17% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $214,208 / ($1,580 × 52) = 2.6
- price-to-rent = $214,208 / ($1,339 × 12) = 13.3
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
368,143 jobs at 24,441 employers (2026 Q1); +0.5% jobs and +4.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 97th pct · 77th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 67 Alabama counties · median 10,118
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro · median 18,474
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, AL | 368,143 jobs · $1,580/wk · +0.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 50,347 | $1,460 | 0.91 | +1.4% |
| Retail trade | 36,854 | $830 | 1.03 | +1.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 30,454 | $539 | 0.92 | +3.1% |
| Manufacturing | 24,699 | $2,002 | 0.83 | -0.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 22,037 | $858 | 1.05 | +0.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 21,015 | $2,087 | 0.83 | +0.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 20,083 | $3,389 | 1.34 | -0.3% |
| Construction | 19,494 | $1,750 | 1.01 | -2.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 17,412 | $1,158 | 1.12 | +0.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 15,761 | $2,009 | 1.12 | -1.6% |
| Other services | 10,524 | $1,199 | 0.96 | +0.9% |
| Management of companies | 6,062 | $3,977 | 0.98 | +5.2% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$44.6 bn in deposits at 183 offices of 39 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,400, moderately concentrated. $8.2 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $6.7 bn, contracts $933.6 m), $22,231 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Regions Bank | $13.4 bn · 30.0% share · 39 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $5.9 bn · 13.1% share · 19 offices | |
| ServisFirst Bank | $4.9 bn · 11.0% share · 2 offices | |
| Jefferson, AL | $8.2 bn FY2026 · $22,231/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $6.4 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regions Bank | $13,379,803,000 | 30.0% | 39 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $5,867,329,000 | 13.1% | 19 |
| ServisFirst Bank | $4,923,517,000 | 11.0% | 2 |
| Pinnacle Bank | $3,552,964,000 | 8.0% | 10 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $3,152,368,000 | 7.1% | 19 |
| Truist Bank | $3,054,751,000 | 6.8% | 9 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $1,757,787,000 | 3.9% | 9 |
| Oakworth Capital Bank | $1,378,492,000 | 3.1% | 1 |
| First Horizon Bank | $1,100,147,000 | 2.5% | 7 |
| CommerceOne Bank | $970,204,000 | 2.2% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 1,400 across 39 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 39 banks with deposits in the county = 30.0² + 13.1² + 11.0² + … (36 more) = 1,400
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $3,158,711,396 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $3,150,208,628 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $552,170,525 |
| Department of State | $487,332,734 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $228,465,088 |
| Department of Justice | $192,600,842 |
| Department of Transportation | $149,755,918 |
| Department of Defense | $132,248,118 |
| Department of Education | $97,724,535 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $40,301,107 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $16,569,652 |
| National Science Foundation | $13,036,043 |
That is $22,231 per covered job, against 368,143 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $8.2 bn / 368,143 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $22,231
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Jefferson County, AL: 14 findings, 14 noted
noteJefferson County, AL's average weekly wage was 4.6% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +4.6 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteJefferson County, AL's typical asking rent rose 0.6% from $1,330 in August 2026 to $1,339 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (1338.5594437468658 - 1330.3494700481963) / 1330.3494700481963 × 100
- 1338.5594437468658 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1330.3494700481963 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteJefferson County, AL's covered employment was 0.5% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +0.5 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteJefferson County, AL's typical home value of +1.5% ranks 7th of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro, against a median of +3.3%.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 7 counties in the Birmingham metro that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteJefferson County, AL's average weekly wage of $1,580 ranks 1st of 7 counties in the Birmingham metro, against a median of $1,039.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 7 counties in the Birmingham metro that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 12 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.