Bent County, CO
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.93, -103.08.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 5th pct · 2,881st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 0th pct · 62nd of 62 Colorado counties · median $448,803
- 62nd pct · 1,159th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 90th pct · 7th of 62 Colorado counties · median -0.4%
- US counties: not published this period
- Colorado counties: not published this period
- 7th pct · 2,968th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 17th pct · 53rd of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
- 37th pct · 2,021st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 28th pct · 46th of 64 Colorado counties · median $1,075
- 7th pct · 2,833rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 0th pct · 62nd of 62 Colorado counties · median 6.4
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 $115,929 (Sep 2026), +3.8% over one year, -14.4% over five
- 5th pct · 2,881st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 0th pct · 62nd of 62 Colorado counties · median $448,803
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bent County, CO | $115,929 · +3.8% 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
- Colorado 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 $642 a month on $115,929 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,251 a month: 15.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $115,929 × 80% = $92,743, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $642/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $981 × 52 / 12 = $4,251) = 15% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $115,929 / ($981 × 52) = 2.3
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 #
1,129 jobs at 94 employers (2026 Q1); -3.1% jobs and +8.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 7th pct · 2,968th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 17th pct · 53rd of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bent County, CO | 1,129 jobs · $981/wk · -3.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 72 | $590 | 0.65 | -6.5% |
| Health care and social assistance | 58 | $869 | 0.34 | +1.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 53 | $1,210 | 1.15 | +3.9% |
| Other services | 6 | $183 | 0.18 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 4 | $775 | 0.23 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld | |||
| Information | 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.
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 #
1 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 1, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| JOHN MARTIN RESERVOIR AT CADDOA, CO | 31,150 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 19 km |
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 #
20 gauges · 0 flooding · 4 with quality panels averaging 56 % · 12 stale
Sites found: 20, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| ARKANSAS RIVER AT LAS ANIMAS, CO. | flow 4.74 ft³/s · quality 50 % (2) | 21 km |
| PURGATOIRE RIVER AT ROCK CROSSING NR TIMPAS, CO. | flow 10.1 ft³/s · quality 50 % (3) | 57 km |
| ARKANSAS RIVER BELOW JOHN MARTIN RESERVOIR, CO. | flow 27.0 ft³/s · quality 50 % (2) | 20 km |
| PURGATOIRE RIVER NEAR LAS ANIMAS, CO | flow 10.5 ft³/s | 16 km |
| FORT LYON CANAL NEAR CORNELIA, CO | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 25 km |
| FORT LYON CANAL NEAR HASTY, CO. | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 26 km |
| HORSE CREEK NEAR LAS ANIMAS, CO | flow 4.20 ft³/s · STALE | 30 km |
| FORT LYON CANAL NEAR CASA, CO | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 36 km |
| ARKANSAS RIVER AT LA JUNTA, CO | flow 3,560 ft³/s · STALE | 40 km |
| ARKANSAS RIVER AT LAMAR, CO | flow 35.4 ft³/s | 45 km |
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 #
1 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 1, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-380009102350300 | depth 56.6 ft · 2001-09-29 | 44 km |
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 (0.16)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.44 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$184.6 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,764, highly concentrated. $46.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $32.2 m, grants $13.5 m), $41,299 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First National Bank Colorado | $128.4 m · 69.5% share · 1 office | |
| McClave State Bank | $56.2 m · 30.5% share · 1 office | |
| Bent, CO | $46.6 m FY2026 · $41,299/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $25.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First National Bank Colorado | $128,353,000 | 69.5% | 1 |
| McClave State Bank | $56,197,000 | 30.5% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,764 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 = 69.5² + 30.5² = 5,764
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 | $21,123,535 |
| Department of Transportation | $10,040,461 |
| Department of Agriculture | $7,714,936 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $5,164,640 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,043,640 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $234,353 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $196,234 |
| Department of the Interior | $41,386 |
| Department of Defense | $39,308 |
| Department of Education | $28,404 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $41,299 per covered job, against 1,129 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $46.6 m / 1,129 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $41,299
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 #
Bent County, CO: 13 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 11 noted
alertBent County, CO's covered employment is -3.1% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -3.1 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBent County, CO's covered employment is -3.1% 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 = -3.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteBent County, CO's average weekly wage was 8.2% 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
- +8.2 % = 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
noteBent County, CO's covered employment was 3.1% lower 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
noteBent County, CO's typical home value fell 1.0% from $117,092 in August 2026 to $115,929 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -1.0% = (115928.71293083696 - 117091.94697124731) / 117091.94697124731 × 100
- 115928.71293083696 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 117091.94697124731 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
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.