Hamilton County, TN
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.16, -85.20.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 79th pct · 639th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 82nd pct · 17th of 95 Tennessee counties · median $252,394
- 100th pct · 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median $268,258
- 14th pct · 2,613th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 3rd pct · 92nd of 95 Tennessee counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 6th of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median +1.3%
- 50th pct · 668th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 55th pct · 21st of 46 Tennessee counties · median $1,477
- counties in the Chattanooga metro: only 3 of counties in the Chattanooga metro published this metric; fewer than 5 is too few to rank
- 95th pct · 150th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 96th pct · 4th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 8,576
- 100th pct · 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median 11,575
- 88th pct · 374th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 92nd pct · 8th of 95 Tennessee counties · median $1,030
- 100th pct · 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median $915
- 64th pct · 1,103rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 47th pct · 50th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 5.0
- 20th pct · 5th of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median 5.2
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 $348,511 (Sep 2026), -1.0% over one year, +22.0% over five
- 79th pct · 639th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 82nd pct · 17th of 95 Tennessee counties · median $252,394
- 100th pct · 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median $268,258
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton County, TN | $348,511 · -1.0% 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 $1,515/mo (Sep 2026), +2.2% over one year; price-to-rent 19.2
- 50th pct · 668th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 55th pct · 21st of 46 Tennessee counties · median $1,477
- counties in the Chattanooga metro: only 3 of counties in the Chattanooga metro published this metric; fewer than 5 is too few to rank
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton County, TN | $1,515/mo · +2.2% 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 $1,930 a month on $348,511 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,941 a month: 32.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $348,511 × 80% = $278,809, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,930/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,371 × 52 / 12 = $5,941) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $348,511 / ($1,371 × 52) = 4.9
- price-to-rent = $348,511 / ($1,515 × 12) = 19.2
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 #
216,811 jobs at 12,777 employers (2026 Q1); -1.6% jobs and +3.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 95th pct · 150th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 96th pct · 4th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 8,576
- 100th pct · 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro · median 11,575
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton County, TN | 216,811 jobs · $1,371/wk · -1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 34,932 | $1,328 | 1.07 | +0.4% |
| Manufacturing | 27,622 | $1,557 | 1.58 | -4.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 21,430 | $505 | 1.10 | +1.2% |
| Retail trade | 21,255 | $776 | 1.01 | +0.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 14,478 | $1,366 | 1.58 | -1.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 12,617 | $975 | 1.02 | -7.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 11,973 | $2,820 | 1.36 | -3.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 10,291 | $1,937 | 0.69 | -2.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 6,522 | $1,719 | 0.79 | -2.9% |
| Other services | 5,864 | $1,050 | 0.91 | -13.6% |
| Educational services | 3,750 | $964 | 0.80 | +1.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 3,421 | $598 | 0.96 | +18.2% |
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 #
$12.7 bn in deposits at 97 offices of 23 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,367, moderately concentrated. $6.8 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $5.9 bn, contracts $797.9 m), $31,411 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Horizon Bank | $2.6 bn · 20.8% share · 14 offices | |
| Pinnacle Bank | $2.6 bn · 20.5% share · 5 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $2.0 bn · 15.5% share · 16 offices | |
| Hamilton, TN | $6.8 bn FY2026 · $31,411/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $5.7 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Horizon Bank | $2,638,789,000 | 20.8% | 14 |
| Pinnacle Bank | $2,604,827,000 | 20.5% | 5 |
| Truist Bank | $1,975,756,000 | 15.5% | 16 |
| Regions Bank | $1,638,140,000 | 12.9% | 15 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $717,606,000 | 5.6% | 4 |
| FirstBank | $692,913,000 | 5.5% | 5 |
| SmartBank | $523,791,000 | 4.1% | 5 |
| Builtwell Bank | $351,595,000 | 2.8% | 6 |
| SouthEast Bank | $345,951,000 | 2.7% | 2 |
| RockPointBank, National Association | $335,764,000 | 2.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,367 across 23 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 23 banks with deposits in the county = 20.8² + 20.5² + 15.5² + … (20 more) = 1,367
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 Health and Human Services | $3,476,963,954 |
| Social Security Administration | $1,920,011,998 |
| Department of Justice | $518,929,213 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $246,666,677 |
| Department of Defense | $203,024,536 |
| Department of Education | $158,605,849 |
| Department of Transportation | $103,444,772 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $69,757,061 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $54,257,362 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $21,179,161 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $9,110,640 |
| Department of Commerce | $6,107,270 |
That is $31,411 per covered job, against 216,811 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $6.8 bn / 216,811 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $31,411
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 #
Hamilton County, TN: 17 findings, 2 at a watch level and 15 noted
watchHamilton County, TN's covered employment is -1.6% 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 = -1.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchHamilton County, TN's typical home value is -1.0% 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 = -0.9815828733940398 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteHamilton County, TN's average weekly wage was 3.2% 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
- +3.2 % = 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
noteHamilton County, TN's covered employment was 1.6% 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
- -1.6 % = 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
noteHamilton County, TN's typical home value of $348,511 ranks 1st of 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro, against a median of $268,258.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 6 counties in the Chattanooga metro 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.