Sussex County, DE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.67, -75.34.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 92nd pct · 223rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
- 26th pct · 2,258th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
- 92nd pct · 98th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
- 90th pct · 318th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
- 67th pct · 1,054th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
- 93rd pct · 188th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
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 $484,559 (Sep 2026), +0.6% over one year, +13.1% over five
- 92nd pct · 223rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sussex County, DE | $484,559 · +0.6% 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 #
Typical rent $2,357/mo (Sep 2026), +5.5% over one year; price-to-rent 17.1
- 92nd pct · 98th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sussex County, DE | $2,357/mo · +5.5% 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 $2,684 a month on $484,559 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,884 a month: 55.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $484,559 × 80% = $387,647, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,684/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,127 × 52 / 12 = $4,884) = 55% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $484,559 / ($1,127 × 52) = 8.3
- price-to-rent = $484,559 / ($2,357 × 12) = 17.1
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 #
92,540 jobs at 11,617 employers (2026 Q1); +1.2% jobs and +1.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 90th pct · 318th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- Delaware counties: Rank context is unavailable: 3 of Delaware counties are in the table, fewer than the 5 a rank needs.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sussex County, DE | 92,540 jobs · $1,127/wk · +1.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 15,881 | $1,336 | 1.14 | +3.9% |
| Retail trade | 13,286 | $759 | 1.47 | -0.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 11,898 | $526 | 1.43 | +0.0% |
| Manufacturing | 11,602 | $1,176 | 1.56 | +0.9% |
| Administrative and waste services | 5,334 | $1,124 | 1.01 | +3.5% |
| Other services | 2,511 | $888 | 0.91 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,275 | $2,115 | 0.60 | +0.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 2,241 | $1,060 | 0.57 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,860 | $1,849 | 0.52 | +2.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 1,828 | $711 | 1.20 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 1,382 | $1,229 | 0.97 | +0.8% |
| Educational services | 390 | $812 | 0.20 | +1.8% |
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 #
$81.5 bn in deposits at 72 offices of 20 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 8,344, highly concentrated. $2.8 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $2.6 bn, grants $144.0 m), $30,346 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Capital One, National Association | $74.4 bn · 91.3% share · 1 office | |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $1.7 bn · 2.1% share · 14 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1.4 bn · 1.7% share · 8 offices | |
| Sussex, DE | $2.8 bn FY2026 · $30,346/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One, National Association | $74,447,604,000 | 91.3% | 1 |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $1,744,160,000 | 2.1% | 14 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1,352,966,000 | 1.7% | 8 |
| Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB | $844,633,000 | 1.0% | 6 |
| County Bank | $577,754,000 | 0.7% | 7 |
| Fulton Bank, National Association | $532,979,000 | 0.7% | 6 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $388,889,000 | 0.5% | 2 |
| Community Bank Delaware | $373,247,000 | 0.5% | 4 |
| Citizens Bank, National Association | $368,656,000 | 0.5% | 3 |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $245,953,000 | 0.3% | 5 |
Deposit concentration is 8,344 across 19 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 19 banks with deposits in the county = 91.3² + 2.1² + 1.7² + … (16 more) = 8,344
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 $30,346 per covered job, against 92,540 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.8 bn / 92,540 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $30,346
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 #
Sussex County, DE: 10 findings, 1 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchSussex County, DE's years of wages of 8.3 ranks 188th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 93.89288047028086 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
noteSussex County, DE's average weekly wage was 1.5% 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
- +1.5 % = 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
noteSussex County, DE's covered employment was 1.2% 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
- +1.2 % = 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
noteSussex County, DE's typical asking rent rose 0.8% from $2,337 in August 2026 to $2,357 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.8% = (2356.753647586981 - 2337.3659315294226) / 2337.3659315294226 × 100
- 2356.753647586981 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 2337.3659315294226 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteSussex County, DE's typical asking rent of $2,357 ranks 98th of 1,358 US counties, against a median of $1,506.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 93 on the 0-to-100 scale across 1358 US counties that published rent.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 10 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.