Harris County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 29.86, -95.39.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 64th pct · 1,088th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 76th pct · 59th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $332,146
- 10th pct · 2,755th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 26th pct · 178th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median -1.6%
- 56th pct · 596th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 30th of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- 12th pct · 8th of 9 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,744
- 99th pct · 4th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 100th pct · 1st of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
- 98th pct · 49th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 96th pct · 9th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 100th pct · 1st of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,347
- 14th pct · 2,633rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 29th pct · 172nd of 243 Texas counties · median 3.5
- 0th pct · 10th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 4.6
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 $276,524 (Sep 2026), -2.0% over one year, +11.3% over five
- 64th pct · 1,088th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 76th pct · 59th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $332,146
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Harris County, TX | $276,524 · -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 $1,583/mo (Sep 2026), -0.1% over one year; price-to-rent 14.6
- 56th pct · 596th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 70th pct · 30th of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- 12th pct · 8th of 9 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,744
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Harris County, TX | $1,583/mo · -0.1% 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 $1,532 a month on $276,524 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $8,723 a month: 17.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $276,524 × 80% = $221,220, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,532/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $2,013 × 52 / 12 = $8,723) = 18% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $276,524 / ($2,013 × 52) = 2.6
- price-to-rent = $276,524 / ($1,583 × 12) = 14.6
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 #
2.44 m jobs at 121,633 employers (2026 Q1); -0.8% jobs and +2.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 99th pct · 4th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 100th pct · 1st of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Harris County, TX | 2.44 m jobs · $2,013/wk · -0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 286,625 | $1,362 | 0.78 | +0.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 223,798 | $570 | 1.02 | -1.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 214,563 | $2,788 | 1.28 | -1.4% |
| Retail trade | 206,285 | $857 | 0.87 | -1.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 181,440 | $1,440 | 1.31 | +0.9% |
| Construction | 181,039 | $1,924 | 1.42 | +1.9% |
| Manufacturing | 178,192 | $2,286 | 0.91 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 131,941 | $2,679 | 1.41 | -3.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 131,729 | $2,454 | 1.28 | -0.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 76,221 | $4,724 | 0.77 | -0.6% |
| Other services | 73,267 | $1,220 | 1.01 | -3.4% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 56,946 | $7,010 | 6.56 | -7.3% |
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 #
D1 moderate 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 #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 5, 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 Houston | 98 % full · 132k ac-ft | 25 km |
| Lake Conroe | 93 % full · 418k ac-ft | 58 km |
| Livingston Reservoir | 92 % full · 1,604k ac-ft | 94 km |
| Gibbons Creek Reservoir | 86 % full · 26k ac-ft | 106 km |
| Somerville Lake | 89 % full · 150k ac-ft | 121 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 #
low (0.17)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 + 0.3×0.07 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$303.5 bn in deposits at 857 offices of 87 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,039, highly concentrated. $26.1 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $18.6 bn, contracts $5.0 bn), $10,706 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $161.6 bn · 53.2% share · 112 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $34.1 bn · 11.2% share · 91 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $18.8 bn · 6.2% share · 72 offices | |
| Harris, TX | $26.1 bn FY2026 · $10,706/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $161,550,894,000 | 53.2% | 112 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $34,063,989,000 | 11.2% | 91 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $18,791,918,000 | 6.2% | 72 |
| Zions Bancorporation, N.A. | $9,795,706,000 | 3.2% | 34 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $7,880,135,000 | 2.6% | 47 |
| Frost Bank | $6,427,002,000 | 2.1% | 46 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $6,256,840,000 | 2.1% | 25 |
| Stellar Bank | $4,850,345,000 | 1.6% | 25 |
| Third Coast Bank | $3,947,188,000 | 1.3% | 3 |
| Truist Bank | $3,733,924,000 | 1.2% | 16 |
Deposit concentration is 3,039 across 83 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 83 banks with deposits in the county = 53.2² + 11.2² + 6.2² + … (80 more) = 3,039
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 $10,706 per covered job, against 2,436,205 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $26.1 bn / 2.44 m covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $10,706
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.
Public companies #
2 public companies file with the SEC from a business address here (Exxon Mobil Corp, Kinder Morgan, Inc.). These rows are a committed fixture, not a pull: the snapshot has never been refreshed, so every financial fact is null and the list is not a complete census of filers in this county. The county's jobs mix maps to 10 GICS sectors, led by Energy.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Exxon Mobil Corp | XOM · NYSE · Energy · Spring, TX 77389 | |
| Kinder Morgan, Inc. | KMI · NYSE · Energy · Houston, TX 77002 |
This is a committed fixture, not a pull: 2 filers are named and their financial facts are empty until the snapshot is refreshed. An absent company is not evidence that none is headquartered here.
Public filers whose registered business address with the SEC falls in this county, from a committed snapshot of EDGAR's company_tickers_exchange file. A position is the centroid of the address's ZIP code (Census ZCTA) or, where the snapshot says so, of its city: it is not a building. Legal entities only - no officer, insider or shareholder data is read, and Forms 3, 4 and 5 are excluded everywhere. Sector exposure is the county's BLS QCEW jobs mix bridged to GICS sectors by a convention documented in lib/companies/sectors.ts; a jobs mix is not a portfolio.
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 #
Harris County, TX: 15 findings, 2 at a watch level and 13 noted
watchHarris County, TX's typical home value is -2.0% 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 = -1.982685988091098 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchHarris County, TX's covered employment is -0.8% 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 = -0.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteHarris County, TX's average weekly wage was 2.5% 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
- +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
noteHarris County, TX's covered employment was 0.8% 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
- -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
noteHarris County, TX's average weekly wage of $2,013 ranks 1st of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro, against a median of $1,347.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
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.