Craighead County, AR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.83, -90.63.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 44th pct · 1,691st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 80th pct · 15th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 63rd pct · 1,121st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 68th pct · 24th of 74 Arkansas counties · median +3.0%
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 24th pct · 1,020th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 6th of 18 Arkansas counties · median $1,178
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 470th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 5th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 43rd pct · 1,819th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 79th pct · 16th of 75 Arkansas counties · median $912
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 48th pct · 1,575th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 69th pct · 23rd of 74 Arkansas counties · median 3.5
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $218,004 (Sep 2026), +4.0% over one year, +20.4% over five
- 44th pct · 1,691st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 80th pct · 15th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Craighead County, AR | $218,004 · +4.0% 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 $1,246/mo (Sep 2026), +2.9% over one year; price-to-rent 14.6
- 24th pct · 1,020th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 6th of 18 Arkansas counties · median $1,178
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Craighead County, AR | $1,246/mo · +2.9% 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 $1,208 a month on $218,004 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,381 a month: 27.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $218,004 × 80% = $174,403, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,208/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,011 × 52 / 12 = $4,381) = 28% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $218,004 / ($1,011 × 52) = 4.1
- price-to-rent = $218,004 / ($1,246 × 12) = 14.6
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 #
56,348 jobs at 3,086 employers (2026 Q1); +1.6% jobs and +2.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 85th pct · 470th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 5th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- counties in the Jonesboro metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Jonesboro metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Craighead County, AR | 56,348 jobs · $1,011/wk · +1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 12,917 | $1,155 | 1.52 | +3.4% |
| Manufacturing | 8,107 | $1,164 | 1.79 | +7.9% |
| Retail trade | 6,379 | $728 | 1.16 | -1.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 5,707 | $428 | 1.13 | -2.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 2,664 | $614 | 0.83 | -1.9% |
| Construction | 2,654 | $1,147 | 0.90 | +2.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,089 | $1,559 | 0.97 | -1.1% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,364 | $1,263 | 0.35 | +1.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 1,281 | $1,890 | 0.56 | +10.1% |
| Other services | 1,170 | $801 | 0.69 | +6.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 651 | $876 | 0.75 | -2.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 452 | $427 | 0.49 | +2.3% |
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 #
D3 extreme drought
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 #
high (0.75)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$4.3 bn in deposits at 52 offices of 24 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 854, unconcentrated. $717.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $654.0 m, grants $53.8 m), $12,736 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Centennial Bank | $831.2 m · 19.5% share · 7 offices | |
| First Community Bank | $423.9 m · 9.9% share · 6 offices | |
| First National Bank | $385.1 m · 9.0% share · 3 offices | |
| Craighead, AR | $717.6 m FY2026 · $12,736/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centennial Bank | $831,188,000 | 19.5% | 7 |
| First Community Bank | $423,947,000 | 9.9% | 6 |
| First National Bank | $385,124,000 | 9.0% | 3 |
| Simmons Bank | $368,858,000 | 8.7% | 3 |
| First Horizon Bank | $343,396,000 | 8.1% | 2 |
| First Security Bank | $209,358,000 | 4.9% | 3 |
| Regions Bank | $201,215,000 | 4.7% | 2 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $174,046,000 | 4.1% | 1 |
| Arvest Bank | $171,505,000 | 4.0% | 3 |
| The Farmers & Merchants Bank | $168,784,000 | 4.0% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 854 across 24 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls unconcentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 24 banks with deposits in the county = 19.5² + 9.9² + 9.0² + … (21 more) = 854
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 #
That is $12,736 per covered job, against 56,348 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $717.6 m / 56,348 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $12,736
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 #
Craighead County, AR: 9 findings, 3 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchCraighead County, AR's typical asking rent of $1,246 scores 25 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 71 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 46 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 46 = |25 across US counties - 71 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchCraighead County, AR's average weekly wage of $1,011 scores 43 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 80 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 36 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 36 = |43 across US counties - 80 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchCraighead County, AR's typical home value of $218,004 scores 45 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 81 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 36 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 36 = |45 across US counties - 81 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteCraighead County, AR's average weekly wage was 2.4% 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
- +2.4 % = 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
noteCraighead County, AR's covered employment was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
Read all 9 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.