Lackawanna County, PA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.44, -75.61.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 54th pct · 1,404th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 62nd pct · 26th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $231,558
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 39th pct · 1,838th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 30th pct · 47th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median +3.3%
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 41st pct · 792nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 62nd pct · 19th of 49 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,322
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 90th pct · 303rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 75th pct · 17th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 59th pct · 1,299th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 43rd pct · 38th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,102
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 52nd pct · 1,470th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 62nd pct · 26th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 3.7
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 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 $242,972 (Sep 2026), +2.0% over one year, +36.6% over five
- 54th pct · 1,404th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 62nd pct · 26th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $231,558
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna County, PA | $242,972 · +2.0% 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 $1,415/mo (Sep 2026), +2.8% over one year; price-to-rent 14.3
- 41st pct · 792nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 62nd pct · 19th of 49 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,322
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna County, PA | $1,415/mo · +2.8% 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 $1,346 a month on $242,972 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,706 a month: 28.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $242,972 × 80% = $194,377, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,346/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,086 × 52 / 12 = $4,706) = 29% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $242,972 / ($1,086 × 52) = 4.3
- price-to-rent = $242,972 / ($1,415 × 12) = 14.3
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 #
98,622 jobs at 5,552 employers (2026 Q1); +0.8% jobs and +2.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 90th pct · 303rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 75th pct · 17th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna County, PA | 98,622 jobs · $1,086/wk · +0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 21,691 | $1,114 | 1.46 | +3.6% |
| Retail trade | 11,092 | $675 | 1.15 | +0.3% |
| Manufacturing | 10,004 | $1,339 | 1.26 | -1.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 8,079 | $427 | 0.91 | +0.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 7,413 | $940 | 1.78 | -2.0% |
| Educational services | 4,006 | $1,072 | 1.89 | +0.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 3,988 | $875 | 0.71 | -2.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 3,607 | $1,448 | 0.95 | +1.7% |
| Construction | 3,561 | $1,403 | 0.69 | +1.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 3,360 | $2,208 | 0.84 | -2.7% |
| Other services | 3,023 | $732 | 1.03 | +2.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 2,772 | $1,416 | 0.41 | +3.0% |
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 #
$8.0 bn in deposits at 73 offices of 17 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,573, moderately concentrated. $1.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.4 bn, contracts $149.0 m), $17,064 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company | $2.0 bn · 24.9% share · 11 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1.8 bn · 22.0% share · 6 offices | |
| The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank | $1.4 bn · 17.3% share · 9 offices | |
| Lackawanna, PA | $1.7 bn FY2026 · $17,064/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company | $1,992,814,000 | 24.9% | 11 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1,758,036,000 | 22.0% | 6 |
| The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank | $1,386,992,000 | 17.3% | 9 |
| NBT Bank, National Association | $558,364,000 | 7.0% | 9 |
| Community Bank, National Association | $514,496,000 | 6.4% | 8 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $505,953,000 | 6.3% | 4 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $337,816,000 | 4.2% | 4 |
| Citizens Savings Bank | $246,212,000 | 3.1% | 4 |
| The Honesdale National Bank | $216,474,000 | 2.7% | 5 |
| PS Bank | $124,573,000 | 1.6% | 3 |
Deposit concentration is 1,573 across 17 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 17 banks with deposits in the county = 24.9² + 22.0² + 17.3² + … (14 more) = 1,573
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 #
That is $17,064 per covered job, against 98,622 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.7 bn / 98,622 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $17,064
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 #
Lackawanna County, PA: 8 findings, 8 noted
noteLackawanna County, PA's average weekly wage was 2.2% 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
- +2.2 % = 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
noteLackawanna County, PA's covered employment was 0.8% 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
- +0.8 % = 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
noteLackawanna County, PA's typical asking rent rose 0.6% from $1,406 in August 2026 to $1,415 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (1414.8604166666667 - 1406.4221697616786) / 1406.4221697616786 × 100
- 1414.8604166666667 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 1406.4221697616786 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
noteLackawanna County, PA's typical home value rose 0.4% from $242,001 in August 2026 to $242,972 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (242971.64448652082 - 242000.87286271446) / 242000.87286271446 × 100
- 242971.64448652082 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 242000.87286271446 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteLackawanna County, PA's covered employment of 98,622 ranks 303rd of 3,221 US counties, against a median of 8,232.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 91 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.emp
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 8 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.