Thurston County, WA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 46.94, -122.83.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 94th pct · 170th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 68th pct · 13th of 39 Washington counties · median $428,499
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 21st pct · 2,401st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 36th pct · 25th of 39 Washington counties · median +0.2%
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 203rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 69th pct · 9th of 27 Washington counties · median $1,705
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 92nd pct · 244th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 86th pct · 6th of 39 Washington counties · median 18,771
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 92nd pct · 227th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 89th pct · 5th of 39 Washington counties · median $1,237
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 438th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 52nd pct · 19th of 39 Washington counties · median 6.7
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 $521,378 (Sep 2026), +0.1% over one year, +11.0% over five
- 94th pct · 170th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 68th pct · 13th of 39 Washington counties · median $428,499
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Thurston County, WA | $521,378 · +0.1% 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 $2,043/mo (Sep 2026), +2.5% over one year; price-to-rent 21.3
- 85th pct · 203rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 69th pct · 9th of 27 Washington counties · median $1,705
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Thurston County, WA | $2,043/mo · +2.5% 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 $2,888 a month on $521,378 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,530 a month: 44.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $521,378 × 80% = $417,103, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,888/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,507 × 52 / 12 = $6,530) = 44% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $521,378 / ($1,507 × 52) = 6.7
- price-to-rent = $521,378 / ($2,043 × 12) = 21.3
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 #
128,616 jobs at 8,519 employers (2026 Q1); -0.8% jobs and +3.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 92nd pct · 244th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 86th pct · 6th of 39 Washington counties · median 18,771
- counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Thurston County, WA | 128,616 jobs · $1,507/wk · -0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 17,482 | $1,413 | 0.90 | +2.6% |
| Retail trade | 11,470 | $884 | 0.92 | -3.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 9,523 | $581 | 0.82 | +0.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 7,027 | $2,254 | 0.79 | -0.2% |
| Construction | 5,918 | $1,609 | 0.88 | -2.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 5,905 | $1,177 | 0.81 | -3.9% |
| Other services | 4,144 | $1,319 | 1.08 | -1.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 4,109 | $2,231 | 0.83 | -2.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 3,870 | $1,133 | 0.71 | +5.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,753 | $2,509 | 0.53 | +1.6% |
| Educational services | 2,751 | $755 | 0.99 | +3.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 1,460 | $546 | 0.69 | +3.1% |
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 #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
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: 0, 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.
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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$5.3 bn in deposits at 47 offices of 15 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 947, unconcentrated. $3.4 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $2.3 bn, grants $1.1 bn), $26,174 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Heritage Bank | $699.7 m · 13.1% share · 4 offices | |
| Olympia Federal Savings and Loan Association | $652.3 m · 12.2% share · 7 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $622.0 m · 11.7% share · 3 offices | |
| Thurston, WA | $3.4 bn FY2026 · $26,174/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $2.2 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage Bank | $699,702,000 | 13.1% | 4 |
| Olympia Federal Savings and Loan Association | $652,310,000 | 12.2% | 7 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $621,989,000 | 11.7% | 3 |
| Timberland Bank | $571,883,000 | 10.7% | 6 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $514,841,000 | 9.6% | 3 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $503,912,000 | 9.4% | 3 |
| KeyBank National Association | $426,126,000 | 8.0% | 6 |
| Columbia Bank | $423,163,000 | 7.9% | 5 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $319,947,000 | 6.0% | 2 |
| Commencement Bank | $199,547,000 | 3.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 947 across 15 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls unconcentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 15 banks with deposits in the county = 13.1² + 12.2² + 11.7² + … (12 more) = 947
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 | $1,635,684,948 |
| Department of Education | $873,562,141 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $558,340,789 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $100,200,115 |
| Department of Transportation | $50,520,992 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $40,084,774 |
| Department of Commerce | $37,103,226 |
| Department of the Interior | $28,498,348 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $11,772,525 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $9,342,307 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,147,364 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $4,889,170 |
That is $26,174 per covered job, against 128,616 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $3.4 bn / 128,616 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $26,174
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 #
Thurston County, WA: 12 findings, 3 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchThurston County, WA'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
watchThurston County, WA's price-to-rent ratio of 21.3 scores 81 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 35 across Washington counties, a gap of 46 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 46 = |81 across US counties - 35 across Washington counties|
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchThurston County, WA's years of wages of 6.7 scores 86 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 53 across Washington counties, a gap of 33 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 33 = |86 across US counties - 53 across Washington counties|
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteThurston County, WA's average weekly wage was 3.6% 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
- +3.6 % = 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
noteThurston County, WA'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
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.