Mercer County, NJ
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.28, -74.70.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 312th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 35th pct · 14th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 22nd pct · 2,385th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 21st of 21 New Jersey counties · median +3.1%
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 94th pct · 77th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 55th pct · 10th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 96th pct · 126th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 70th pct · 7th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 26th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 85th pct · 4th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $1,446
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 39th pct · 1,864th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 0th pct · 21st of 21 New Jersey counties · median 6.1
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $439,984 (Sep 2026), +0.2% over one year, +33.2% over five
- 89th pct · 312th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 35th pct · 14th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, NJ | $439,984 · +0.2% 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 $2,523/mo (Sep 2026), +2.4% over one year; price-to-rent 14.5
- 94th pct · 77th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 55th pct · 10th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, NJ | $2,523/mo · +2.4% 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 $2,437 a month on $439,984 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $9,811 a month: 24.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $439,984 × 80% = $351,987, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,437/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $2,264 × 52 / 12 = $9,811) = 25% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $439,984 / ($2,264 × 52) = 3.7
- price-to-rent = $439,984 / ($2,523 × 12) = 14.5
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 #
259,660 jobs at 12,129 employers (2026 Q1); -0.7% jobs and +5.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 96th pct · 126th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 70th pct · 7th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Trenton-Princeton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, NJ | 259,660 jobs · $2,264/wk · -0.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 30,720 | $1,321 | 0.79 | +3.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 22,552 | $4,041 | 1.26 | -5.1% |
| Retail trade | 18,491 | $829 | 0.73 | +0.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 15,876 | $938 | 1.08 | -1.9% |
| Educational services | 14,270 | $1,966 | 2.55 | -8.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 14,152 | $5,313 | 1.34 | -4.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 12,865 | $568 | 0.55 | +2.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 10,561 | $1,103 | 0.97 | -1.5% |
| Manufacturing | 9,781 | $4,351 | 0.47 | -1.7% |
| Other services | 7,946 | $1,190 | 1.02 | +12.1% |
| Construction | 5,417 | $1,930 | 0.40 | -1.5% |
| Management of companies | 4,370 | $9,085 | 1.01 | -0.7% |
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 #
$22.1 bn in deposits at 100 offices of 22 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,403, moderately concentrated. $4.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $2.3 bn, grants $2.1 bn), $18,207 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $6.3 bn · 28.5% share · 11 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $3.2 bn · 14.3% share · 9 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $3.0 bn · 13.5% share · 13 offices | |
| Mercer, NJ | $4.7 bn FY2026 · $18,207/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.8 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $6,318,136,000 | 28.5% | 11 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $3,156,161,000 | 14.3% | 9 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $2,984,287,000 | 13.5% | 13 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $1,658,778,000 | 7.5% | 8 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $1,511,898,000 | 6.8% | 9 |
| First Bank | $1,234,773,000 | 5.6% | 5 |
| Citizens Bank, National Association | $976,360,000 | 4.4% | 9 |
| Customers Bank | $884,342,000 | 4.0% | 1 |
| Santander Bank, N.A. | $860,550,000 | 3.9% | 8 |
| The Bank of Princeton | $712,790,000 | 3.2% | 7 |
Deposit concentration is 1,403 across 21 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 21 banks with deposits in the county = 28.5² + 14.3² + 13.5² + … (18 more) = 1,403
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 | $1,740,583,888 |
| Department of Education | $1,208,462,326 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $521,844,053 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $449,656,142 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $317,022,374 |
| Department of Defense | $128,346,037 |
| Department of Transportation | $122,931,445 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $97,484,498 |
| National Science Foundation | $43,311,412 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $39,620,899 |
| Department of Energy | $13,023,368 |
| Department of Commerce | $11,591,447 |
That is $18,207 per covered job, against 259,660 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $4.7 bn / 259,660 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,207
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 #
Mercer County, NJ: 16 findings, 4 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchMercer County, NJ's covered employment is -0.7% 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 = -0.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchMercer County, NJ's typical home value of $439,984 scores 90 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 35 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 55 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 55 = |90 across US counties - 35 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMercer County, NJ's typical asking rent of $2,523 scores 94 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 55 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |94 across US counties - 55 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMercer County, NJ's years of wages of 3.7 scores 39 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 0 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |39 across US counties - 0 across New Jersey 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
noteMercer County, NJ's average weekly wage was 5.5% 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
- +5.5 % = 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
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.