Dallam County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.29, -102.59.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 18th pct · 2,495th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 26th pct · 178th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 73rd pct · 799th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 82nd pct · 44th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 35th pct · 2,090th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 141st of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 72nd pct · 884th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 60th pct · 102nd of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 12th pct · 2,688th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 27th pct · 177th 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 $154,785 (Sep 2026), +5.0% over one year, +31.8% over five
- 18th pct · 2,495th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 26th pct · 178th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Dallam County, TX | $154,785 · +5.0% 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 #
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 $857 a month on $154,785 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,066 a month: 16.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $154,785 × 80% = $123,828, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $857/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,169 × 52 / 12 = $5,066) = 17% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $154,785 / ($1,169 × 52) = 2.5
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 #
4,624 jobs at 394 employers (2026 Q1); -4.5% jobs and +8.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 35th pct · 2,090th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 141st of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Dallam County, TX | 4,624 jobs · $1,169/wk · -4.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 1,307 | $1,055 | 39.13 | -8.5% |
| Manufacturing | 812 | $1,746 | 2.18 | +1.4% |
| Retail trade | 374 | $818 | 0.83 | +1.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 349 | $1,466 | 1.97 | -9.8% |
| Construction | 313 | $1,264 | 1.29 | +17.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 96 | $1,319 | 0.51 | +4.3% |
| Other services | 85 | $796 | 0.62 | -44.8% |
| Information | 78 | $1,701 | 0.92 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 77 | $1,646 | 0.24 | -26.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 61 | $767 | 0.23 | -16.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 44 | $1,395 | 0.06 | +0.0% |
| Unclassified | 14 | $601 | 1.42 | +0.0% |
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 #
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: 2, 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 Meredith | 45 % full · 500k ac-ft | 114 km |
| Palo Duro Reservoir | 0 % full · 61k ac-ft | 128 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 #
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 #
moderate (0.28)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.3×0.60 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$182.8 m in deposits at 4 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,504, highly concentrated. $57.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $43.5 m, contracts $11.6 m), $12,447 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wellington State Bank | $80.0 m · 43.7% share · 1 office | |
| Dalhart Federal Savings & Loan Association, SSB | $55.0 m · 30.1% share · 1 office | |
| Centennial Bank | $47.8 m · 26.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Dallam, TX | $57.6 m FY2026 · $12,447/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington State Bank | $79,952,000 | 43.7% | 1 |
| Dalhart Federal Savings & Loan Association, SSB | $54,995,000 | 30.1% | 1 |
| Centennial Bank | $47,824,000 | 26.2% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 3,504 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 43.7² + 30.1² + 26.2² = 3,504
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 $12,447 per covered job, against 4,624 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $57.6 m / 4,624 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $12,447
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 #
Dallam County, TX: 9 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 7 noted
alertDallam County, TX's covered employment is -4.5% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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 = -4.5 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchDallam County, TX's covered employment is -4.5% 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 = -4.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteDallam County, TX's average weekly wage was 8.8% 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
- +8.8 % = 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
noteDallam County, TX's covered employment was 4.5% 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
- -4.5 % = 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
noteDallam County, TX's typical home value rose 0.9% from $153,384 in August 2026 to $154,785 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.9% = (154785.2471907184 - 153384.0017936176) / 153384.0017936176 × 100
- 154785.2471907184 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 153384.0017936176 = 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.