Chelan County, WA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 47.86, -120.62.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 94th pct · 160th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 71st pct · 12th of 39 Washington counties · median $428,499
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 15th pct · 2,579th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 21st pct · 31st of 39 Washington counties · median +0.2%
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 65th pct · 467th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 46th pct · 15th of 27 Washington counties · median $1,705
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 81st pct · 586th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 71st pct · 12th of 39 Washington counties · median 18,771
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 72nd pct · 884th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 44th pct · 22nd of 39 Washington counties · median $1,237
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 95th pct · 143rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 89th pct · 5th of 39 Washington counties · median 6.7
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $531,212 (Sep 2026), -0.8% over one year, +5.3% over five
- 94th pct · 160th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 71st pct · 12th of 39 Washington counties · median $428,499
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Chelan County, WA | $531,212 · -0.8% 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 $1,704/mo (Sep 2026), -0.2% over one year; price-to-rent 26.0
- 65th pct · 467th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 46th pct · 15th of 27 Washington counties · median $1,705
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Chelan County, WA | $1,704/mo · -0.2% 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 $2,942 a month on $531,212 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,066 a month: 58.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $531,212 × 80% = $424,970, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,942/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,169 × 52 / 12 = $5,066) = 58% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $531,212 / ($1,169 × 52) = 8.7
- price-to-rent = $531,212 / ($1,704 × 12) = 26.0
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 #
41,686 jobs at 3,222 employers (2026 Q1); -0.3% jobs and +3.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 81st pct · 586th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 71st pct · 12th of 39 Washington counties · median 18,771
- counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Chelan County, WA | 41,686 jobs · $1,169/wk · -0.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 7,517 | $1,459 | 1.20 | +2.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 4,413 | $604 | 1.18 | +0.6% |
| Retail trade | 4,020 | $736 | 0.99 | -2.5% |
| Construction | 2,304 | $1,589 | 1.05 | -4.4% |
| Manufacturing | 1,811 | $1,198 | 0.54 | -4.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,708 | $1,401 | 1.07 | -2.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,161 | $969 | 0.49 | -6.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,007 | $1,686 | 0.35 | +4.2% |
| Other services | 996 | $864 | 0.80 | -2.4% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 800 | $425 | 1.17 | +9.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 761 | $889 | 1.19 | -0.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 647 | $1,920 | 0.38 | -1.1% |
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 #
5 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
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 CHELAN AT CHELAN, WA | 1,095 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 42 km |
| LAKE CHELAN AT PURPLE POINT AT STEHEKIN, WA | 1,095 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 50 km |
| HOWARD A HANSON RESERVOIR NEAR PALMER, WA | 15,050 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 109 km |
| MUD MOUNTAIN LAKE NEAR BUCKLEY, WA | 15.9 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 127 km |
| LAKE TAPPS NEAR SUMNER, WA | 38,910 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 137 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 #
50 gauges · 0 flooding · 7 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 15 stale
Sites found: 50, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CHIWAWA RIVER NEAR PLAIN, WA | flow 84.2 ft³/s | 4 km |
| Nason Creek above Plain | no readings | 10 km |
| WENATCHEE RIVER AT PLAIN, WA | flow 209.0 ft³/s | 11 km |
| ENTIAT RIVER NEAR ARDENVOIR, WA | flow 53.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 15 km |
| Mad River above Pine Flats | no readings | 17 km |
| White River near Plain | observation not current | 19 km |
| MAD RIVER AT ARDENVOIR, WA | flow 17.8 ft³/s | 23 km |
| WENATCHEE RIVER AT PESHASTIN, WA | flow 333.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 31 km |
| Icicle Creek near Leavenworth | no readings | 33 km |
| Peshastin Creek at Green Bridge Road | no readings | 34 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 #
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 (0.16)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$2.6 bn in deposits at 22 offices of 10 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,750, highly concentrated. $784.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $534.0 m, contracts $187.5 m), $18,811 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cashmere Valley Bank | $1.3 bn · 48.7% share · 7 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $304.8 m · 11.7% share · 2 offices | |
| Glacier Bank | $244.8 m · 9.4% share · 2 offices | |
| Chelan, WA | $784.2 m FY2026 · $18,811/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $495.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cashmere Valley Bank | $1,265,623,000 | 48.7% | 7 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $304,799,000 | 11.7% | 2 |
| Glacier Bank | $244,760,000 | 9.4% | 2 |
| Banner Bank | $184,598,000 | 7.1% | 1 |
| WaFd Bank | $175,209,000 | 6.7% | 3 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $108,066,000 | 4.2% | 2 |
| Washington Trust Bank | $92,213,000 | 3.5% | 2 |
| Peoples Bank | $86,775,000 | 3.3% | 1 |
| KeyBank National Association | $76,386,000 | 2.9% | 1 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $59,883,000 | 2.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,750 across 10 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 10 banks with deposits in the county = 48.7² + 11.7² + 9.4² + … (7 more) = 2,750
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 | $452,126,640 |
| Department of Agriculture | $200,869,684 |
| Department of Transportation | $43,584,210 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $39,777,439 |
| Department of the Interior | $16,097,258 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $7,841,032 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $7,718,244 |
| Department of Education | $6,705,564 |
| Department of Defense | $4,657,362 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $3,622,016 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $952,346 |
| Department of Commerce | $99,999 |
That is $18,811 per covered job, against 41,686 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $784.2 m / 41,686 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,811
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 #
Chelan County, WA: 12 findings, 5 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchChelan County, WA's years of wages of 8.7 ranks 143rd of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 95.3625081645983 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchChelan County, WA's price-to-rent ratio of 26.0 ranks 71st of 1,358 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 94.8415622697126 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchChelan County, WA's price-to-rent ratio is 26.0, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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: priceToRent = 25.971516918078553 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchChelan County, WA's typical home value is -0.8% 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 = -0.753512501974435 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchChelan County, WA's covered employment is -0.3% 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 = -0.3 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.