Lee County, MS
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.29, -88.68.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 42nd pct · 1,750th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 84th pct · 13th of 80 Mississippi counties · median $149,228
- 82nd pct · 539th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 82nd pct · 15th of 80 Mississippi counties · median +1.5%
- 37th pct · 845th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 46th pct · 9th of 16 Mississippi counties · median $1,388
- 84th pct · 494th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 93rd pct · 6th of 82 Mississippi counties · median 6,322
- 49th pct · 1,637th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 80th pct · 16th of 82 Mississippi counties · median $903
- 44th pct · 1,710th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 78th pct · 18th of 80 Mississippi counties · median 3.1
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 $212,212 (Sep 2026), +6.1% over one year, +24.9% over five
- 42nd pct · 1,750th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 84th pct · 13th of 80 Mississippi counties · median $149,228
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, MS | $212,212 · +6.1% 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 $1,374/mo (Sep 2026), +4.2% over one year; price-to-rent 12.9
- 37th pct · 845th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 46th pct · 9th of 16 Mississippi counties · median $1,388
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, MS | $1,374/mo · +4.2% 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 $1,175 a month on $212,212 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,485 a month: 26.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $212,212 × 80% = $169,770, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,175/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,035 × 52 / 12 = $4,485) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $212,212 / ($1,035 × 52) = 3.9
- price-to-rent = $212,212 / ($1,374 × 12) = 12.9
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 #
51,316 jobs at 2,752 employers (2026 Q1); +0.3% jobs and +4.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 84th pct · 494th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 93rd pct · 6th of 82 Mississippi counties · median 6,322
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, MS | 51,316 jobs · $1,035/wk · +0.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 9,753 | $1,333 | 1.26 | +0.7% |
| Manufacturing | 8,761 | $1,080 | 2.12 | -8.5% |
| Retail trade | 6,469 | $693 | 1.29 | -3.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 4,886 | $376 | 1.06 | +13.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 3,772 | $687 | 1.29 | +7.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,015 | $2,459 | 0.96 | +18.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,930 | $990 | 0.89 | +14.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,894 | $1,324 | 0.54 | +4.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,799 | $1,333 | 0.92 | -0.4% |
| Construction | 1,482 | $1,106 | 0.55 | +2.1% |
| Other services | 986 | $891 | 0.64 | +6.1% |
| Management of companies | 828 | $1,495 | 0.96 | +5.1% |
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 #
$4.8 bn in deposits at 48 offices of 14 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,156, highly concentrated. $570.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $514.0 m, contracts $50.3 m), $11,125 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Renasant Bank | $1.9 bn · 40.4% share · 13 offices | |
| The Huntington National Bank | $1.8 bn · 38.1% share · 7 offices | |
| Regions Bank | $238.9 m · 5.0% share · 3 offices | |
| Lee, MS | $570.9 m FY2026 · $11,125/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $499.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renasant Bank | $1,924,153,000 | 40.4% | 13 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $1,818,007,000 | 38.1% | 7 |
| Regions Bank | $238,940,000 | 5.0% | 3 |
| BankPlus | $224,505,000 | 4.7% | 4 |
| Trustmark Bank | $131,731,000 | 2.8% | 4 |
| Community Bank of Mississippi | $122,794,000 | 2.6% | 2 |
| BNA Bank | $118,180,000 | 2.5% | 3 |
| FNB Oxford Bank | $44,592,000 | 0.9% | 2 |
| Guaranty Bank and Trust Company | $44,207,000 | 0.9% | 3 |
| Farmers and Merchants Bank | $43,433,000 | 0.9% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 3,156 across 14 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 14 banks with deposits in the county = 40.4² + 38.1² + 5.0² + … (11 more) = 3,156
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 | $439,382,988 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $62,563,553 |
| Department of Energy | $19,497,353 |
| Department of Transportation | $17,353,576 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $13,312,993 |
| General Services Administration | $8,900,525 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,782,249 |
| Department of Defense | $2,597,032 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,733,520 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,172,661 |
| Department of Justice | $1,018,854 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $916,525 |
That is $11,125 per covered job, against 51,316 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $570.9 m / 51,316 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $11,125
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, MS: 9 findings, 3 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchLee County, MS' typical home value of $212,212 scores 43 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 85 across Mississippi counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |43 across US counties - 85 across Mississippi counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchLee County, MS' years of wages of 3.9 scores 44 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 78 across Mississippi counties, a gap of 34 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 34 = |44 across US counties - 78 across Mississippi counties|
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchLee County, MS' average weekly wage of $1,035 scores 49 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 81 across Mississippi counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |49 across US counties - 81 across Mississippi counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLee County, MS' average weekly wage was 4.2% 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
- +4.2 % = 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
noteLee County, MS' covered employment was 0.3% 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
- +0.3 % = 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 9 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.