Simpson County, KY
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.74, -86.58.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 57th pct · 1,288th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 81st pct · 23rd of 120 Kentucky counties · median $179,218
- 26th pct · 2,252nd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 68th pct · 39th of 120 Kentucky counties · median -1.4%
- 36th pct · 868th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 59th pct · 12th of 28 Kentucky counties · median $1,281
- 53rd pct · 1,508th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 68th pct · 38th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- 46th pct · 1,720th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 61st pct · 47th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $953
- 60th pct · 1,201st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 83rd pct · 21st of 120 Kentucky 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 $253,079 (Sep 2026), +0.6% over one year, +31.7% over five
- 57th pct · 1,288th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 81st pct · 23rd of 120 Kentucky counties · median $179,218
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Simpson County, KY | $253,079 · +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 $1,353/mo (Sep 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 15.6
- 36th pct · 868th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 59th pct · 12th of 28 Kentucky counties · median $1,281
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Simpson County, KY | $1,353/mo · n/a 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 $1,402 a month on $253,079 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,437 a month: 31.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $253,079 × 80% = $202,463, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,402/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,024 × 52 / 12 = $4,437) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $253,079 / ($1,024 × 52) = 4.8
- price-to-rent = $253,079 / ($1,353 × 12) = 15.6
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 #
9,364 jobs at 753 employers (2026 Q1); +1.3% jobs and +3.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 53rd pct · 1,508th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 68th pct · 38th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Simpson County, KY | 9,364 jobs · $1,024/wk · +1.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,514 | $1,288 | 3.34 | -5.1% |
| Retail trade | 1,140 | $675 | 1.25 | -0.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 952 | $423 | 1.13 | +1.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 800 | $953 | 2.03 | -1.0% |
| Health care and social assistance | 631 | $1,299 | 0.45 | +2.4% |
| Construction | 528 | $1,346 | 1.08 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 455 | $723 | 2.95 | +19.7% |
| Administrative and waste services | 358 | $884 | 0.67 | +8.8% |
| Other services | 174 | $804 | 0.62 | -4.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 148 | $1,548 | 0.39 | +5.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 110 | $1,095 | 0.17 | +1.9% |
| Real estate and rental | 42 | $746 | 0.29 | +13.5% |
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 #
D1 moderate 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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$628.2 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,964, highly concentrated. $120.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $120.3 m, grants $400,422), $12,899 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin Bank & Trust Company | $422.6 m · 67.3% share · 2 offices | |
| German American Bank | $112.9 m · 18.0% share · 2 offices | |
| Regions Bank | $57.6 m · 9.2% share · 1 office | |
| Simpson, KY | $120.8 m FY2026 · $12,899/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $117.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Bank & Trust Company | $422,638,000 | 67.3% | 2 |
| German American Bank | $112,867,000 | 18.0% | 2 |
| Regions Bank | $57,640,000 | 9.2% | 1 |
| South Central Bank, Inc. | $35,079,000 | 5.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,964 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 67.3² + 18.0² + 9.2² + … (1 more) = 4,964
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 | $102,775,109 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $14,269,366 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,911,614 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $406,844 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $399,729 |
| Department of Defense | $18,158 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,130 |
| Department of Transportation | $693 |
That is $12,899 per covered job, against 9,364 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $120.8 m / 9,364 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $12,899
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 #
Simpson County, KY: 8 findings, 2 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchSimpson County, KY's typical asking rent is -1.3% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; 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: rent.momPct = -1.3199204770760478 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSimpson County, KY's typical home value of +0.6% scores 26 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 68 across Kentucky counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |26 across US counties - 68 across Kentucky counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteSimpson County, KY's average weekly wage was 3.2% 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
- +3.2 % = 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
noteSimpson County, KY's typical asking rent fell 1.3% from $1,371 in August 2026 to $1,353 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -1.3% = (1353.3333333333333 - 1371.435187198999) / 1371.435187198999 × 100
- 1353.3333333333333 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1371.435187198999 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteSimpson County, KY's covered employment was 1.3% 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
- +1.3 % = 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 8 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.