Brown County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 31.76, -99.00.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 32nd pct · 2,060th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 40th pct · 145th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 20th pct · 2,442nd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 47th pct · 127th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 65th pct · 1,099th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 73rd pct · 69th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 47th pct · 1,676th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 33rd pct · 170th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 32nd pct · 2,060th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 49th pct · 124th of 243 Texas counties · median 3.5
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 $186,630 (Sep 2026), -0.1% over one year, +10.4% over five
- 32nd pct · 2,060th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 40th pct · 145th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, TX | $186,630 · -0.1% 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
- Texas counties: not published this period
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 $1,034 a month on $186,630 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,463 a month: 23.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $186,630 × 80% = $149,304, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,034/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,030 × 52 / 12 = $4,463) = 23% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $186,630 / ($1,030 × 52) = 3.5
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 #
15,739 jobs at 924 employers (2026 Q1); +0.5% jobs and +6.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 65th pct · 1,099th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 73rd pct · 69th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, TX | 15,739 jobs · $1,030/wk · +0.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 3,516 | $856 | 1.48 | +7.6% |
| Manufacturing | 2,422 | $1,758 | 1.91 | +1.4% |
| Retail trade | 1,977 | $675 | 1.29 | +2.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,300 | $385 | 0.92 | -2.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 500 | $1,216 | 0.83 | -9.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 448 | $848 | 0.50 | +11.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 441 | $1,361 | 0.69 | -9.8% |
| Educational services | 319 | $753 | 0.94 | +0.3% |
| Other services | 266 | $610 | 0.57 | -4.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 176 | $480 | 0.68 | -7.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 147 | $927 | 0.22 | -13.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 99 | $4,757 | 0.87 | -9.2% |
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.
Drought #
D2 severe drought
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 #
64 % of conservation capacity, weighted over 24 TWDB reservoirs
Sites found: 29, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Brownwood | 89 % full · 131k ac-ft | 8 km |
| Lake Coleman | 78 % full · 38k ac-ft | 53 km |
| Proctor Lake | 57 % full · 55k ac-ft | 53 km |
| Hords Creek Lake | 45 % full · 8k ac-ft | 54 km |
| O. H. Ivie Reservoir | 41 % full · 554k ac-ft | 70 km |
| O. H. Ivie Res nr Voss, TX | 228,200 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 70 km |
| Leon Reservoir | 75 % full · 28k ac-ft | 73 km |
| Lake Cisco | 43 % full · 29k ac-ft | 75 km |
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 #
13 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 1 stale
Sites found: 13, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pecan Bayou at Brownwood, TX | flow 378.0 ft³/s | 4 km |
| Pecan Bayou nr Cross Cut, TX | flow 203.0 ft³/s | 26 km |
| Jim Ned Ck at CR 140 nr Coleman, TX | flow 0.00 ft³/s | 29 km |
| Colorado Rv at Winchell, TX | flow 0.59 ft³/s · STALE | 36 km |
| Pecan Bayou nr Mullin, TX | flow 8.99 ft³/s | 37 km |
| Hords Ck nr Coleman, TX | flow 0.00 ft³/s | 41 km |
| Copperas Ck at FM 2247 nr Comanche, TX | flow 350.0 ft³/s | 46 km |
| Sabana Rv nr De Leon, TX | flow 0.00 ft³/s | 54 km |
| Leon Rv nr Hasse, TX | flow 0.15 ft³/s | 55 km |
| Colorado Rv nr Stacy, TX | flow 4.40 ft³/s | 62 km |
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 #
1 wells in 1 named aquifer: Edwards-Trinity aquifer system
Sites found: 1, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards-Trinity aquifer system | depth 32.4 ft · 2001-08-21 | 52 km |
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 #
moderate (0.44)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.36 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$800.1 m in deposits at 12 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,827, highly concentrated. $266.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $260.0 m, grants $5.3 m), $16,941 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| TexasBank | $301.3 m · 37.7% share · 5 offices | |
| Citizens National Bank at Brownwood | $272.4 m · 34.0% share · 2 offices | |
| MCBank | $94.3 m · 11.8% share · 1 office | |
| Brown, TX | $266.6 m FY2026 · $16,941/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $251.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| TexasBank | $301,338,000 | 37.7% | 5 |
| Citizens National Bank at Brownwood | $272,429,000 | 34.0% | 2 |
| MCBank | $94,284,000 | 11.8% | 1 |
| Prosperity Bank | $70,818,000 | 8.9% | 2 |
| Western Bank | $40,213,000 | 5.0% | 1 |
| Farmers and Merchants Bank | $21,048,000 | 2.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,827 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 = 37.7² + 34.0² + 11.8² + … (3 more) = 2,827
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 | $213,981,871 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $34,353,648 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $4,590,903 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $4,493,077 |
| Department of Transportation | $3,658,425 |
| Department of Education | $2,848,731 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,775,556 |
| Department of Defense | $479,093 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $411,689 |
| National Credit Union Administration | $50,000 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of the Interior | -$11,934 |
That is $16,941 per covered job, against 15,739 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $266.6 m / 15,739 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,941
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 #
Brown County, TX: 5 findings, 1 at a watch level and 4 noted
watchBrown County, TX's typical home value is -0.1% 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 = -0.08281375665471821 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteBrown County, TX's average weekly wage was 6.1% 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
- +6.1 % = 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
noteBrown County, TX's covered employment was 0.5% 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
- +0.5 % = 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
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Brown County, TX 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
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Brown County, TX is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.