Columbia County, PA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.05, -76.40.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 54th pct · 1,399th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 63rd pct · 25th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $231,558
- 73rd pct · 809th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 84th pct · 11th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median +3.3%
- 17th pct · 1,117th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 37th pct · 31st of 49 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,322
- 74th pct · 834th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 45th pct · 37th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- 39th pct · 1,930th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 14th pct · 57th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,102
- 59th pct · 1,227th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 71st pct · 20th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 3.7
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 $243,148 (Sep 2026), +4.9% over one year, +11.4% over five
- 54th pct · 1,399th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 63rd pct · 25th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $231,558
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia County, PA | $243,148 · +4.9% 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 $1,148/mo (Sep 2026), +5.5% over one year; price-to-rent 17.6
- 17th pct · 1,117th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 37th pct · 31st of 49 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,322
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia County, PA | $1,148/mo · +5.5% 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 $1,347 a month on $243,148 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,312 a month: 31.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $243,148 × 80% = $194,519, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,347/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $995 × 52 / 12 = $4,312) = 31% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $243,148 / ($995 × 52) = 4.7
- price-to-rent = $243,148 / ($1,148 × 12) = 17.6
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 #
23,492 jobs at 1,576 employers (2026 Q1); -2.5% jobs and +1.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 74th pct · 834th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 45th pct · 37th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia County, PA | 23,492 jobs · $995/wk · -2.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3,747 | $1,293 | 1.98 | +0.7% |
| Retail trade | 3,065 | $646 | 1.34 | -5.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | 3,030 | $1,042 | 0.86 | +3.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,559 | $368 | 1.21 | +3.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 2,173 | $983 | 2.19 | -13.5% |
| Management of companies | 1,074 | $1,560 | 2.73 | -8.4% |
| Other services | 771 | $631 | 1.10 | +1.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 753 | $1,226 | 0.46 | -0.4% |
| Construction | 743 | $1,147 | 0.60 | -0.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 487 | $1,376 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 396 | $784 | 0.30 | -1.7% |
| Information | 276 | $1,165 | 0.64 | +3.8% |
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 #
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 #
$1.6 bn in deposits at 22 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,197, highly concentrated. $504.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $430.2 m, grants $72.4 m), $21,453 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Bank | $698.0 m · 44.4% share · 11 offices | |
| First Keystone Community Bank | $501.5 m · 31.9% share · 5 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $191.5 m · 12.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Columbia, PA | $504.0 m FY2026 · $21,453/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $399.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journey Bank | $698,032,000 | 44.4% | 11 |
| First Keystone Community Bank | $501,451,000 | 31.9% | 5 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $191,494,000 | 12.2% | 2 |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $98,547,000 | 6.3% | 2 |
| Fulton Bank, National Association | $60,199,000 | 3.8% | 1 |
| UNB Bank | $21,527,000 | 1.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,197 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 44.4² + 31.9² + 12.2² + … (3 more) = 3,197
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 | $360,441,602 |
| Department of Transportation | $67,117,777 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $39,065,001 |
| Department of Education | $21,727,777 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $5,418,294 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,270,143 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,362,007 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,298,019 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $826,016 |
| Department of Defense | $438,823 |
| Department of Justice | $4,328 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $21,453 per covered job, against 23,492 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $504.0 m / 23,492 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,453
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 #
Columbia County, PA: 9 findings, 1 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchColumbia County, PA's covered employment is -2.5% 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 = -2.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteColumbia County, PA's covered employment was 2.5% 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
- -2.5 % = 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
noteColumbia County, PA's average weekly wage was 1.3% 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
- +1.3 % = 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
noteColumbia County, PA's typical asking rent rose 0.4% from $1,144 in August 2026 to $1,148 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (1148.3333333333333 - 1143.7708835341268) / 1143.7708835341268 × 100
- 1148.3333333333333 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1143.7708835341268 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteColumbia County, PA's typical home value fell 0.3% from $243,879 in August 2026 to $243,148 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.3% = (243148.46750909204 - 243878.8080142395) / 243878.8080142395 × 100
- 243148.46750909204 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 243878.8080142395 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
Read all 9 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.