Los Alamos County, NM
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.87, -106.31.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 96th pct · 119th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 100th pct · 1st of 30 New Mexico counties · median $216,844
- 15th pct · 2,573rd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 31st pct · 21st of 30 New Mexico counties · median +1.6%
- 94th pct · 73rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 14 New Mexico counties · median $1,498
- 73rd pct · 866th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 8th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
- 99th pct · 24th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 100th pct · 1st of 33 New Mexico counties · median $968
- 62nd pct · 1,163rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 62nd pct · 12th 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 $579,389 (Sep 2026), -0.7% over one year, +25.9% over five
- 96th pct · 119th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 100th pct · 1st of 30 New Mexico counties · median $216,844
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Los Alamos County, NM | $579,389 · -0.7% 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 #
Typical rent $2,554/mo (Sep 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 18.9
- 94th pct · 73rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 14 New Mexico counties · median $1,498
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Los Alamos County, NM | $2,554/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 $3,209 a month on $579,389 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $10,045 a month: 31.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $579,389 × 80% = $463,512, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $3,209/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $2,318 × 52 / 12 = $10,045) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $579,389 / ($2,318 × 52) = 4.8
- price-to-rent = $579,389 / ($2,554 × 12) = 18.9
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 #
22,182 jobs at 588 employers (2026 Q1); -1.1% jobs and +3.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 73rd pct · 866th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 8th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Los Alamos County, NM | 22,182 jobs · $2,318/wk · -1.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative and waste services | 1,319 | $2,108 | 1.05 | -9.2% |
| Health care and social assistance | 945 | $1,110 | 0.28 | -8.6% |
| Retail trade | 449 | $689 | 0.21 | -2.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 449 | $554 | 0.23 | +3.7% |
| Other services | 266 | $543 | 0.40 | -2.6% |
| Construction | 196 | $1,661 | 0.17 | -4.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 132 | $1,613 | 0.15 | -2.9% |
| Educational services | 105 | $532 | 0.22 | -9.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 47 | $1,071 | 0.06 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 24 | $596 | 0.07 | -4.0% |
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | 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 #
D2 severe 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 #
5 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 5, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| NAMBE FALLS RESERVOIR NEAR NAMBE, NM | 1,648 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 36 km |
| NICHOLS RESERVOIR NEAR SANTA FE N MEX | 466.5 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 44 km |
| MCCLURE RESERVOIR NEAR SANTA FE N MEX | 1,022 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 47 km |
| EAGLE NEST LAKE NR EAGLE NEST, NM | 20,850 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 122 km |
| COSTILLA RESERVOIR NEAR COSTILLA, NM | 1,257 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 145 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 #
57 gauges · 0 flooding · 8 with quality panels averaging 78 % · 29 stale
Sites found: 57, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JEMEZ RIVER NEAR JEMEZ, NM | flow 21.3 ft³/s · quality 50 % (2) · no flooding | 46 km |
| USGS-355410106371510 | DO 9.00 mg/l · quality 50 % (4) · STALE | 28 km |
| RIO GRANDE AT HWY 550 BRIDGE AT BERNALILLO, NM | turb. 2,000 FNU · quality 80 % (5) · STALE | 65 km |
| LOS ALAMOS CANYON AT LOS ALAMOS, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 2 km |
| PAJARITO CANYON ABV TA-18 NR WHITE ROCK, NM | flow 0.30 ft³/s · STALE | 3 km |
| PAJARITO CANYON ABV NM HWY 501 NR WHITE ROCK, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 4 km |
| LOS ALAMOS CANYON (UG) NR LOS ALAMOS, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 4 km |
| CANON DE VALLE ABV NM HWY 501 NR LOS ALAMOS, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 5 km |
| WATER CYN ABV NM HWY 501 NR LOS ALAMOS, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 6 km |
| CANADA DEL BUEY ABOVE WHITE ROCK, NM | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 7 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 #
31 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 31, 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-355000106092802 | depth 71.8 ft · 2026-08-03 | 14 km |
| USGS-355000106092803 | depth 62.5 ft · 2026-08-06 | 14 km |
| USGS-354731106072002 | depth 197.1 ft · 2026-09-15 | 19 km |
| USGS-354731106072003 | depth 200.6 ft · 2026-09-15 | 19 km |
| USGS-354731106072001 | depth 156.2 ft · 2026-09-15 | 19 km |
| USGS-354056106215801 | depth 597.2 ft · 2026-08-28 | 22 km |
| USGS-354228106044901 | depth 217.3 ft · 2026-09-15 | 27 km |
| USGS-354228106044902 | depth 253.3 ft · 2026-09-15 | 27 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 #
moderate (0.40)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.2×0.22 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$860.7 m in deposits at 5 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,458, highly concentrated. $5.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $5.5 bn, direct payments $101.9 m), $255,160 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Bank & Trust | $620.6 m · 72.1% share · 2 offices | |
| UMB Bank, National Association | $84.2 m · 9.8% share · 1 office | |
| Sunflower Bank, National Association | $79.0 m · 9.2% share · 1 office | |
| Los Alamos, NM | $5.7 bn FY2026 · $255,160/job | |
| TRIAD NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC | $5.5 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Bank & Trust | $620,551,000 | 72.1% | 2 |
| UMB Bank, National Association | $84,247,000 | 9.8% | 1 |
| Sunflower Bank, National Association | $78,958,000 | 9.2% | 1 |
| Century Bank | $76,965,000 | 8.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,458 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 = 72.1² + 9.8² + 9.2² + … (1 more) = 5,458
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 |
|---|---|
| Department of Energy | $5,545,319,733 |
| Social Security Administration | $90,344,582 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $11,118,193 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $4,369,217 |
| Department of Transportation | $2,650,692 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $1,767,764 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,566,162 |
| Department of Education | $916,911 |
| National Science Foundation | $598,163 |
| General Services Administration | $465,708 |
| Department of Defense | $438,534 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $310,818 |
That is $255,160 per covered job, against 22,182 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $5.7 bn / 22,182 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $255,160
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 #
Los Alamos County, NM: 13 findings, 2 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchLos Alamos County, NM's covered employment is -1.1% 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 = -1.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLos Alamos County, NM's typical home value is -0.7% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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.yoyPct = -0.7384986007406691 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteLos Alamos County, NM's average weekly wage was 3.9% 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
- +3.9 % = 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
noteLos Alamos County, NM's covered employment was 1.1% 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
- -1.1 % = 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
noteLos Alamos County, NM's typical home value of $579,389 ranks 1st of 30 New Mexico counties, against a median of $216,844.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 30 New Mexico counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.