Ward County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 31.51, -103.11.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 31st pct · 2,085th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 39th pct · 148th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
- 15th pct · 2,577th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 42nd pct · 141st of 243 Texas counties · median +0.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 41st pct · 1,876th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 129th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 96th pct · 98th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 94th pct · 16th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 4th pct · 2,931st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 13th pct · 210th 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 $185,065 (Sep 2026), -0.7% over one year, -25.6% over five
- 31st pct · 2,085th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 39th pct · 148th of 243 Texas counties · median $207,861
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Ward County, TX | $185,065 · -0.7% 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 $1,025 a month on $185,065 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $7,687 a month: 13.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $185,065 × 80% = $148,052, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,025/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,774 × 52 / 12 = $7,687) = 13% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $185,065 / ($1,774 × 52) = 2.0
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 #
5,918 jobs at 391 employers (2026 Q1); -7.7% jobs and +5.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 41st pct · 1,876th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 129th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Ward County, TX | 5,918 jobs · $1,774/wk · -7.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining, oil and gas | 1,741 | $2,410 | 82.62 | -7.4% |
| Construction | 726 | $1,966 | 2.34 | -19.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 460 | $451 | 0.87 | +0.0% |
| Retail trade | 358 | $655 | 0.62 | -2.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 356 | $3,080 | 1.43 | +5.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 253 | $1,784 | 0.62 | -37.2% |
| Real estate and rental | 232 | $1,580 | 2.56 | +0.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 142 | $1,746 | 0.63 | -9.0% |
| Manufacturing | 135 | $1,546 | 0.28 | -28.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 83 | $4,007 | 0.34 | -5.7% |
| Administrative and waste services | 50 | $1,418 | 0.15 | -19.4% |
| Utilities | 45 | $3,291 | 1.93 | +2.3% |
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 #
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 #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 1, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Red Bluff Reservoir | 46 % full · 145k ac-ft | 88 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 #
high (0.52)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.54 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$419.0 m in deposits at 4 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,918, highly concentrated. $47.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $46.6 m, grants $1.1 m), $8,062 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Maverick Bank | $275.8 m · 65.8% share · 1 office | |
| American Momentum Bank | $75.8 m · 18.1% share · 1 office | |
| City Bank | $67.4 m · 16.1% share · 2 offices | |
| Ward, TX | $47.7 m FY2026 · $8,062/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $46.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maverick Bank | $275,815,000 | 65.8% | 1 |
| American Momentum Bank | $75,788,000 | 18.1% | 1 |
| City Bank | $67,441,000 | 16.1% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 4,918 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 = 65.8² + 18.1² + 16.1² = 4,918
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 | $41,769,152 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $4,611,242 |
| Department of Transportation | $648,821 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $385,347 |
| Department of Agriculture | $126,013 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $85,683 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $57,350 |
| Department of Education | $16,123 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $13,899 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $8,062 per covered job, against 5,918 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $47.7 m / 5,918 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $8,062
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 #
Ward County, TX: 14 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 10 noted
alertWard County, TX's covered employment is -7.7% 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 = -7.7 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchWard County, TX's covered employment is -7.7% 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 = -7.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchWard County, TX's typical home value is -0.7% 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 = -0.7445548293962626 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchWard County, TX's typical home value is -1.0% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; 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 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.momPct = -1.018348987246919 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteWard County, TX's covered employment was 7.7% 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
- -7.7 % = 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
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.