Lee County, AR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.78, -90.78.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 2nd pct · 2,989th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 9th pct · 67th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
- 1st pct · 3,030th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 74th of 74 Arkansas counties · median +3.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Arkansas counties: not published this period
- 11th pct · 2,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 9th pct · 68th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- 9th pct · 2,919th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 28th pct · 54th of 75 Arkansas counties · median $912
- 6th pct · 2,862nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 17th pct · 61st of 74 Arkansas counties · median 3.5
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 $95,565 (Sep 2026), -10.6% over one year, -20.8% over five
- 2nd pct · 2,989th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 9th pct · 67th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, AR | $95,565 · -10.6% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Arkansas counties: not published this period
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 $529 a month on $95,565 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,614 a month: 14.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $95,565 × 80% = $76,452, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $529/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $834 × 52 / 12 = $3,614) = 15% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $95,565 / ($834 × 52) = 2.2
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 #
1,513 jobs at 209 employers (2026 Q1); -2.4% jobs and +3.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 11th pct · 2,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 9th pct · 68th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, AR | 1,513 jobs · $834/wk · -2.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 166 | $467 | 1.13 | -4.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 140 | $769 | 12.81 | -6.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 67 | $1,127 | 1.16 | -8.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 33 | $1,037 | 0.52 | -5.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 27 | $897 | 0.26 | +3.8% |
| Utilities | 24 | $1,720 | 4.02 | +4.3% |
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Management of companies | withheld | |||
| Administrative and waste services | withheld |
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.
Water #
Banks & federal dollars #
$140.9 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,182, highly concentrated. $68.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $54.0 m, grants $13.6 m), $45,060 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Armor Bank | $83.9 m · 59.5% share · 1 office | |
| First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas | $57.0 m · 40.5% share · 1 office | |
| Lee, AR | $68.2 m FY2026 · $45,060/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $43.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armor Bank | $83,903,000 | 59.5% | 1 |
| First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas | $57,025,000 | 40.5% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,182 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 59.5² + 40.5² = 5,182
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 | $40,128,238 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,471,955 |
| Department of Agriculture | $8,273,967 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $4,584,578 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $3,224,716 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,816,971 |
| Department of Defense | $517,413 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $149,521 |
| Small Business Administration | $6,438 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $2,664 |
That is $45,060 per covered job, against 1,513 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $68.2 m / 1,513 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $45,060
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 #
Lee County, AR: 18 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 14 noted
alertLee County, AR's typical home value is -10.6% against a year earlier, an alert level here: typical home value at least 5 percent below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -10.633070702506902 <= -5
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLee County, AR's typical home value is -10.6% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -10.633070702506902 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLee County, AR's covered employment is -2.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -2.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLee County, AR's momentum index is -0.48, a watch level here: momentum index in the cooling band (the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: momentum = -0.4833333333333333 <= -0.25
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteLee County, AR's average weekly wage was 3.1% 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
- +3.1 % = 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 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.