Catron County, NM
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 33.90, -108.39.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 42nd pct · 1,748th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 17th of 30 New Mexico counties · median $216,844
- 93rd pct · 210th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 96th pct · 2nd of 30 New Mexico counties · median +1.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- New Mexico counties: not published this period
- 3rd pct · 3,114th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 31st of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
- 3rd pct · 3,108th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 0th pct · 33rd of 33 New Mexico counties · median $968
- 72nd pct · 850th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 75th pct · 8th of 30 New Mexico counties · median 4.2
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 $212,317 (Sep 2026), +8.5% over one year, +1.5% over five
- 42nd pct · 1,748th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 17th of 30 New Mexico counties · median $216,844
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Catron County, NM | $212,317 · +8.5% 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
- New Mexico counties: 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 $1,176 a month on $212,317 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,254 a month: 36.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $212,317 × 80% = $169,853, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,176/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $751 × 52 / 12 = $3,254) = 36% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $212,317 / ($751 × 52) = 5.4
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 #
646 jobs at 140 employers (2026 Q1); -5.0% jobs and -1.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 3rd pct · 3,114th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 31st of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Catron County, NM | 646 jobs · $751/wk · -5.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 127 | $328 | 1.31 | -3.1% |
| Retail trade | 105 | $456 | 1.67 | -9.5% |
| Construction | 28 | $652 | 0.83 | -31.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 16 | $802 | 3.43 | +0.0% |
| Manufacturing | 16 | $1,020 | 0.31 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 9 | $1,526 | 0.20 | +12.5% |
| Utilities | 8 | $834 | 3.14 | -27.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 7 | $1,930 | 0.28 | +16.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 5 | $734 | 0.18 | -16.7% |
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
100 % of conservation capacity, weighted over 1 TWDB reservoirs
Sites found: 3, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| ZUNI SALT LAKE NR QUEMADO, NM | 122.0 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 70 km |
| LYMAN LAKE NEAR ST. JOHNS, AZ | 3,227 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 105 km |
| Elephant Butte Lake | 100 % full · 1,986k ac-ft | 139 km |
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 #
21 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 19 stale
Sites found: 21, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| TULAROSA RIVER ABOVE ARAGON, NM | flow 2.90 ft³/s · STALE | 11 km |
| TULAROSA-CRUZVILLE DITCH NR. ARAGON, NM | flow 0.58 ft³/s · STALE | 27 km |
| LEWIS DITCH NEAR RESERVE, NM | flow 4.10 ft³/s · STALE | 37 km |
| SAN FRANCISCO RIVER AT RESERVE, NM | flow 9.89 ft³/s · no flooding | 39 km |
| SAN FRANCISCO RIVER NEAR RESERVE, NM | flow 0.32 ft³/s · STALE | 40 km |
| CIENEGA DITCH NR. RESERVE, NM | flow 0.02 ft³/s · STALE | 40 km |
| KIEHNE DITCH NEAR RESERVE, NM | flow 0.66 ft³/s · STALE | 40 km |
| PARSONS DITCH NR RESERVE, NM | flow 1.90 ft³/s · STALE | 42 km |
| MIDDLE FRISCO DITCH AT RESERVE, NM. | flow 0.19 ft³/s · STALE | 42 km |
| A. LANEY DITCH NR. LUNA, NM | flow 0.95 ft³/s · STALE | 42 km |
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 #
1 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 1, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-340422107370801 | depth 179.6 ft · 2026-07-02 | 74 km |
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 + 0.3×0.00 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$41.8 m in deposits at 1 offices of 1 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 10,000, highly concentrated. $59.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $41.2 m, contracts $15.4 m), $92,211 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First State Bank | $41.8 m · 100.0% share · 1 office | |
| Catron, NM | $59.6 m FY2026 · $92,211/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $38.0 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First State Bank | $41,801,000 | 100.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 10,000 across 1 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 1 banks with deposits in the county = 100.0² = 10,000
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 | $33,292,560 |
| Department of Agriculture | $16,103,644 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $4,380,113 |
| Department of Transportation | $2,888,961 |
| Department of the Interior | $2,037,433 |
| Department of Defense | $352,000 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $305,091 |
| Department of Energy | $173,757 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $26,341 |
| Department of Education | $8,234 |
That is $92,211 per covered job, against 646 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $59.6 m / 646 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $92,211
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 #
Catron County, NM: 18 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 14 noted
alertCatron County, NM's covered employment is -5.0% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -5 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCatron County, NM's covered employment is -5.0% 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 = -5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchCatron County, NM's average weekly wage is -1.2% 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 = -1.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCatron County, NM's typical home value is -1.5% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI 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: home.momPct = -1.4542660933251679 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteCatron County, NM's covered employment was 5.0% 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
- -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.