St. James Parish, LA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.02, -90.79.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 40th pct · 1,812th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 73rd pct · 18th of 64 Louisiana counties · median $170,587
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median $242,069
- 79th pct · 623rd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 85th pct · 10th of 64 Louisiana counties · median +2.5%
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median +2.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Louisiana counties: not published this period
- counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro: not published this period
- 48th pct · 1,668th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 39th pct · 39th of 64 Louisiana counties · median 10,187
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median 12,919
- 94th pct · 181st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 92nd pct · 6th of 64 Louisiana counties · median $1,033
- 66th pct · 3rd of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median $1,482
- 11th pct · 2,705th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 25th pct · 48th of 64 Louisiana counties · median 3.0
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median 2.9
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 $207,084 (Sep 2026), +5.7% over one year, +5.3% over five
- 40th pct · 1,812th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 73rd pct · 18th of 64 Louisiana counties · median $170,587
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median $242,069
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| St. James Parish, LA | $207,084 · +5.7% 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
- Louisiana counties: not published this period
- counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro: 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 $1,147 a month on $207,084 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,847 a month: 16.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $207,084 × 80% = $165,667, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,147/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,580 × 52 / 12 = $6,847) = 17% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $207,084 / ($1,580 × 52) = 2.5
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 #
7,662 jobs at 479 employers (2026 Q1); +0.6% jobs and -0.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 48th pct · 1,668th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 39th pct · 39th of 64 Louisiana counties · median 10,187
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro · median 12,919
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| St. James Parish, LA | 7,662 jobs · $1,580/wk · +0.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,327 | $2,595 | 3.78 | +1.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 790 | $1,613 | 2.45 | -6.6% |
| Retail trade | 581 | $515 | 0.78 | +1.2% |
| Construction | 530 | $1,474 | 1.32 | -5.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 326 | $359 | 0.47 | +14.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 173 | $2,336 | 0.59 | +7.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 172 | $999 | 0.39 | -10.4% |
| Management of companies | 133 | $2,464 | 1.04 | +4.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 125 | $1,169 | 0.40 | -1.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 104 | $1,542 | 0.20 | +10.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 96 | $540 | 0.76 | -3.0% |
| Other services | 96 | $664 | 0.42 | -1.0% |
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 #
$564.9 m in deposits at 5 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 6,663, highly concentrated. $133.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $125.9 m, grants $7.2 m), $17,382 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First American Bank and Trust | $445.3 m · 78.8% share · 4 offices | |
| Regions Bank | $119.5 m · 21.2% share · 1 office | |
| St. James, LA | $133.2 m FY2026 · $17,382/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First American Bank and Trust | $445,346,000 | 78.8% | 4 |
| Regions Bank | $119,533,000 | 21.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 6,663 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 = 78.8² + 21.2² = 6,663
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 $17,382 per covered job, against 7,662 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $133.2 m / 7,662 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $17,382
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 #
St. James Parish, LA: 11 findings, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchSt. James Parish, LA's average weekly wage is -0.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -0.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSt. James Parish, LA's typical home value of $207,084 scores 41 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 73 across Louisiana counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |41 across US counties - 73 across Louisiana counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteSt. James Parish, LA's covered employment was 0.6% 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
- +0.6 % = 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
noteSt. James Parish, LA's average weekly wage was 0.4% 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
- -0.4 % = 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
noteSt. James Parish, LA's typical home value of +5.7% ranks 1st of 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro, against a median of +2.1%.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 7 counties in the New Orleans-Metairie metro that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.