Waller County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.01, -95.98.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 81st pct · 581st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 90th pct · 25th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 77th pct · 3rd of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $332,146
- 10th pct · 2,734th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 29th pct · 171st of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- 44th pct · 6th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median -1.6%
- 90th pct · 126th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- 100th pct · 1st of 9 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,744
- 77th pct · 727th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 82nd pct · 45th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 44th pct · 6th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
- 83rd pct · 544th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 72nd pct · 70th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,347
- 71st pct · 870th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 83rd pct · 42nd of 243 Texas counties · median 3.5
- 77th pct · 3rd 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 $358,663 (Sep 2026), -1.8% over one year, +8.6% over five
- 81st pct · 581st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 90th pct · 25th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 77th pct · 3rd of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $332,146
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Waller County, TX | $358,663 · -1.8% 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 $2,212/mo (Sep 2026), -1.7% over one year; price-to-rent 13.5
- 90th pct · 126th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 98 Texas counties · median $1,449
- 100th pct · 1st of 9 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,744
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Waller County, TX | $2,212/mo · -1.7% 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 $1,987 a month on $358,663 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,538 a month: 35.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $358,663 × 80% = $286,930, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,987/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,278 × 52 / 12 = $5,538) = 36% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $358,663 / ($1,278 × 52) = 5.4
- price-to-rent = $358,663 / ($2,212 × 12) = 13.5
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 #
29,576 jobs at 1,194 employers (2026 Q1); +6.0% jobs and +5.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 77th pct · 727th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 82nd pct · 45th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 44th pct · 6th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Waller County, TX | 29,576 jobs · $1,278/wk · +6.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 5,551 | $1,762 | 2.33 | +11.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 4,243 | $1,120 | 3.40 | +14.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,894 | $1,617 | 2.55 | +0.4% |
| Retail trade | 2,690 | $999 | 0.93 | +3.7% |
| Construction | 1,955 | $1,334 | 1.26 | +4.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,140 | $803 | 0.26 | +0.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,110 | $554 | 0.42 | -2.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 914 | $1,204 | 0.45 | +17.3% |
| Administrative and waste services | 846 | $1,319 | 0.50 | -6.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 533 | $807 | 1.09 | -4.7% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 475 | $2,008 | 4.51 | +14.5% |
| Other services | 391 | $1,332 | 0.44 | +6.2% |
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 #
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: 8, 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 Conroe | 93 % full · 418k ac-ft | 56 km |
| Somerville Lake | 89 % full · 150k ac-ft | 63 km |
| Gibbons Creek Reservoir | 86 % full · 26k ac-ft | 67 km |
| Lake Houston | 98 % full · 132k ac-ft | 82 km |
| Livingston Reservoir | 92 % full · 1,604k ac-ft | 116 km |
| Lake Texana | 87 % full · 159k ac-ft | 137 km |
| Lake Limestone | 83 % full · 204k ac-ft | 149 km |
| Granger Lake | 99 % full · 52k ac-ft | 149 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 + 0.3×0.08 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$369.2 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,128, highly concentrated. $405.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $288.7 m, contracts $60.0 m), $13,717 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Prosperity Bank | $169.1 m · 45.8% share · 1 office | |
| Stellar Bank | $87.7 m · 23.8% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $59.8 m · 16.2% share · 1 office | |
| Waller, TX | $405.7 m FY2026 · $13,717/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $241.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prosperity Bank | $169,133,000 | 45.8% | 1 |
| Stellar Bank | $87,700,000 | 23.8% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $59,779,000 | 16.2% | 1 |
| Trustmark Bank | $52,601,000 | 14.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,128 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 45.8² + 23.8² + 16.2² + … (1 more) = 3,128
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 | $210,248,897 |
| Department of Defense | $69,317,546 |
| Department of Education | $58,299,455 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $29,645,551 |
| Department of Agriculture | $22,057,884 |
| Department of Transportation | $5,392,915 |
| National Science Foundation | $5,297,510 |
| Department of Commerce | $3,021,912 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,482,021 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $713,580 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $446,597 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $311,938 |
That is $13,717 per covered job, against 29,576 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $405.7 m / 29,576 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $13,717
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 | 17.40 | 2026-10-19 | -3.1% |
| 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 | 2026-10-20 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 255,129.00 | 2026-09-01 | -1.4% |
| 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 | 1,221.00 | 2026-09-01 | -5.2% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,400.00 | 2026-09-01 | -0.2% |
| 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 #
Waller County, TX: 13 findings, 1 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchWaller County, TX's typical home value is -1.8% 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 = -1.827308025939444 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteWaller County, TX's covered employment was 6.0% 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 % = 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
noteWaller County, TX's average weekly wage was 5.6% 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
- +5.6 % = 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
noteWaller County, TX's covered employment of +6.0% ranks 1st of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro, against a median of +0.5%.
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.yoy.emp
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteWaller County, TX's typical asking rent of $2,212 ranks 1st of 98 Texas counties, against a median of $1,449.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 98 Texas counties that published rent.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.