Buncombe County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.61, -82.53.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 311th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 88th pct · 12th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 4th pct · 2,914th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 100th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 65th pct · 472nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 67th pct · 21st of 62 North Carolina counties · median $1,550
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 92nd pct · 235th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 6th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 75th pct · 783rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 85th pct · 15th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 89th pct · 333rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 82nd pct · 18th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville 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 $440,368 (Sep 2026), -4.4% over one year, +16.0% over five
- 89th pct · 311th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 88th pct · 12th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Buncombe County, NC | $440,368 · -4.4% 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 $1,700/mo (Sep 2026), +0.1% over one year; price-to-rent 21.6
- 65th pct · 472nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 67th pct · 21st of 62 North Carolina counties · median $1,550
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Buncombe County, NC | $1,700/mo · +0.1% 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 $2,439 a month on $440,368 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,187 a month: 47.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $440,368 × 80% = $352,295, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,439/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,197 × 52 / 12 = $5,187) = 47% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $440,368 / ($1,197 × 52) = 7.1
- price-to-rent = $440,368 / ($1,700 × 12) = 21.6
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 #
135,117 jobs at 13,225 employers (2026 Q1); +1.5% jobs and +0.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 92nd pct · 235th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 6th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Buncombe County, NC | 135,117 jobs · $1,197/wk · +1.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 22,766 | $1,329 | 1.12 | +2.2% |
| Retail trade | 17,838 | $771 | 1.35 | +4.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 16,284 | $590 | 1.34 | +6.4% |
| Manufacturing | 12,522 | $1,445 | 1.15 | -3.2% |
| Construction | 7,198 | $1,259 | 1.02 | -1.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 7,096 | $1,101 | 0.92 | +1.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 6,927 | $1,692 | 0.74 | -0.7% |
| Other services | 5,808 | $906 | 1.44 | +5.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 3,720 | $1,733 | 0.72 | +0.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 3,719 | $1,100 | 0.65 | -4.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 3,318 | $717 | 1.49 | +20.9% |
| Educational services | 3,219 | $1,030 | 1.11 | -8.8% |
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 #
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 #
$7.5 bn in deposits at 67 offices of 22 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,204, moderately concentrated. $2.4 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.8 bn, grants $400.1 m), $17,661 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1.3 bn · 17.7% share · 8 offices | |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $1.2 bn · 16.6% share · 11 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $1.0 bn · 13.4% share · 6 offices | |
| Buncombe, NC | $2.4 bn FY2026 · $17,661/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.7 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1,323,544,000 | 17.7% | 8 |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $1,240,773,000 | 16.6% | 11 |
| Truist Bank | $1,001,353,000 | 13.4% | 6 |
| HomeTrust Bank | $971,767,000 | 13.0% | 4 |
| First Bank | $840,218,000 | 11.2% | 8 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $741,050,000 | 9.9% | 4 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $324,616,000 | 4.3% | 3 |
| First Horizon Bank | $230,617,000 | 3.1% | 3 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $223,826,000 | 3.0% | 3 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $159,884,000 | 2.1% | 3 |
Deposit concentration is 1,204 across 20 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 20 banks with deposits in the county = 17.7² + 16.6² + 13.4² + … (17 more) = 1,204
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 | $1,538,898,650 |
| Department of Transportation | $331,708,001 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $201,543,707 |
| Department of Agriculture | $111,998,484 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $49,250,514 |
| Department of Commerce | $44,313,908 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $29,723,505 |
| Department of Education | $22,781,141 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $11,584,871 |
| General Services Administration | $9,897,590 |
| Department of Defense | $8,801,584 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $8,662,598 |
That is $17,661 per covered job, against 135,117 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.4 bn / 135,117 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $17,661
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 #
Buncombe County, NC: 13 findings, 1 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchBuncombe County, NC's typical home value is -4.4% 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 = -4.3829112281074885 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteBuncombe County, NC's covered employment was 1.5% 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
- +1.5 % = 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
noteBuncombe County, NC's typical home value fell 0.4% from $442,062 in August 2026 to $440,368 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.4% = (440368.37959907 - 442062.35502984497) / 442062.35502984497 × 100
- 440368.37959907 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 442062.35502984497 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteBuncombe County, NC's typical asking rent fell 0.4% from $1,706 in August 2026 to $1,700 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.4% = (1699.6930988355773 - 1705.8349397523127) / 1705.8349397523127 × 100
- 1699.6930988355773 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1705.8349397523127 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteBuncombe County, NC's average weekly wage was 0.1% 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
- +0.1 % = 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
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.