Alexander County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.92, -81.18.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 62nd pct · 1,154th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 49th pct · 51st of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 431st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 97th pct · 3rd of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- North Carolina counties: not published this period
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 51st pct · 1,555th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 31st pct · 69th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 21st pct · 2,515th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 19th pct · 81st of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 75th pct · 759th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 58th pct · 42nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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 $268,040 (Sep 2026), +6.7% over one year, +32.0% over five
- 62nd pct · 1,154th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 49th pct · 51st of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander County, NC | $268,040 · +6.7% 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
- North Carolina counties: not published this period
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $1,485 a month on $268,040 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,961 a month: 37.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $268,040 × 80% = $214,432, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,485/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $914 × 52 / 12 = $3,961) = 37% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $268,040 / ($914 × 52) = 5.6
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 #
8,703 jobs at 720 employers (2026 Q1); +1.4% jobs and +2.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 51st pct · 1,555th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 31st pct · 69th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander County, NC | 8,703 jobs · $914/wk · +1.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3,004 | $983 | 4.29 | +0.8% |
| Retail trade | 750 | $575 | 0.88 | +1.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 589 | $309 | 0.75 | +3.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 341 | $626 | 0.69 | +6.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 256 | $1,032 | 0.70 | -4.1% |
| Other services | 226 | $694 | 0.87 | -5.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 212 | $1,390 | 0.64 | +7.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 175 | $1,073 | 0.49 | -3.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 111 | $276 | 0.77 | +19.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 50 | $820 | 0.37 | +78.6% |
| Utilities | 33 | $1,458 | 0.96 | +37.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 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.
Water #
Banks & federal dollars #
$440.4 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,277, highly concentrated. $243.1 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $240.8 m, grants $2.2 m), $27,931 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Taylorsville Savings Bank, SSB | $215.1 m · 48.8% share · 3 offices | |
| First Community Bank | $89.6 m · 20.4% share · 1 office | |
| Peoples Bank | $73.3 m · 16.6% share · 1 office | |
| Alexander, NC | $243.1 m FY2026 · $27,931/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $238.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylorsville Savings Bank, SSB | $215,067,000 | 48.8% | 3 |
| First Community Bank | $89,635,000 | 20.4% | 1 |
| Peoples Bank | $73,278,000 | 16.6% | 1 |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $62,398,000 | 14.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,277 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 = 48.8² + 20.4² + 16.6² + … (1 more) = 3,277
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 | $213,607,552 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $23,929,841 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,449,288 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,851,900 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $664,198 |
| Appalachian Regional Commission | $255,938 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $159,487 |
| Department of State | $70,973 |
| Department of Transportation | $56,277 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $37,764 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $27,931 per covered job, against 8,703 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $243.1 m / 8,703 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $27,931
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 #
Alexander County, NC: 6 findings, 6 noted
noteAlexander County, NC's average weekly wage was 2.0% 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
- +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
noteAlexander County, NC's covered employment was 1.4% 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
- +1.4 % = 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
noteAlexander County, NC's typical home value rose 0.3% from $267,323 in August 2026 to $268,040 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (268040.00201364973 - 267323.0011506116) / 267323.0011506116 × 100
- 268040.00201364973 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 267323.0011506116 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteAlexander County, NC's typical home value of +6.7% ranks 3rd of 100 North Carolina counties, against a median of +1.1%.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across 100 North Carolina counties that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Alexander County, NC is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
Read all 6 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.