Whatcom County, WA: 12 findings, 4 at a watch level and 8 noted

12 findings fired for Whatcom County, WA this run, against a typical home value of $607,644 in September 2026 and covered employment of 92,566 in 2026 Q1.

Rules version 1. Assembled 2026-10-20. Back to Whatcom County, WA.

12 findings #

currentretrieved 2026-10-20

  1. watchWhatcom County, WA's price-to-rent ratio of 25.9 ranks 72nd 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 = 94.76787030213707 >= 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

  2. watchWhatcom County, WA's years of wages of 8.4 ranks 171st 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 = 94.44807315480078 >= 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

  3. watchWhatcom County, WA's covered employment is -1.0% 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 = -1 < 0

    BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level

  4. watchWhatcom County, WA's price-to-rent ratio is 25.9, 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 = 25.94883304308754 >= 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

  5. noteWhatcom County, WA's average weekly wage was 4.1% 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
    • +4.1 % = 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

  6. noteWhatcom County, WA's covered employment was 1.0% 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
    • -1 % = 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

  7. noteWhatcom County, WA's typical asking rent fell 0.4% from $1,959 in August 2026 to $1,951 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • -0.4% = (1951.4180171722508 - 1958.7990025194085) / 1958.7990025194085 × 100
    • 1951.4180171722508 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
    • 1958.7990025194085 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08

  8. noteWhatcom County, WA's typical home value of $607,644 ranks 103rd of 3,063 US counties, against a median of $230,451.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 97 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.latest

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  9. noteWhatcom County, WA's covered employment of 92,566 ranks 317th of 3,221 US counties, against a median of 8,232.

    Period 2026 Q1.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 90 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.emp

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  10. noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Whatcom County, WA is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  11. noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Whatcom County, WA is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  12. noteThe next Zillow ZORI typical rent (monthly) covering Whatcom County, WA is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

Findings come from a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence per rule. There is no model in this path: the numbers are detected, ordered and worded by code, and every one of them prints the operation that produced it.

Next release #

currentretrieved 2026-10-20

BTS Border Crossing Entry Data (monthly), expected between 2026-10-10 and 2026-10-30.

The window is approximate: the publisher has not posted a date for this release, so it is inferred from the cadence of previous ones.

The same brief, narrowed #

currentretrieved 2026-10-20

A lens keeps the findings whose subject matches one reader's interest and hides the rest. Every lens brief points its canonical here.

Subscribe #

currentretrieved 2026-10-20

The same findings as a feed. Entry ids are content hashes with no clock in them, so an unchanged finding is never sent twice.

Sources #

  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-20 · typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
  • estimateQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-20 · typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
  • publishedQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    area 53073, all ownerships, all industries · period 2026-Q1 · retrieved 2026-10-20
  • publishedZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-20
  • publishedZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-20
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-20 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-20 · momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
  • estimateZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-20 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns

Citations

  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-20. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. accessed 2026-10-20. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. series area 53073, all ownerships, all industries. period 2026-Q1. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/53073.csv. accessed 2026-10-20.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). series County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zori/County_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-20.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). series County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/County_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-20.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-20. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-20. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%).
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-20. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.

What these numbers are not

  • The newest BLS QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, only the over-the-year percent change BLS publishes itself. Every employment and wage comparison here states that published change; none of them is a move from one level to another, because the two levels are not both in the file.
  • A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank across the entities that published the metric this period: the smallest published value scores 0 and the largest scores 100. It is not the share of entities below the value, and entities that did not publish the metric are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
  • The named indicators shown beside this brief are national or basin-level series, not measurements of Whatcom County, WA; 30-year fixed mortgage rate (watch), Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual (watch), Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate (watch) and WTI crude oil, spot (watch) are at a watch or alert level. They are context.
  • The occupation mix is the 13380 metro area's, from the bundled BLS OEWS release: OEWS does not publish a county table.
  • Water rows are everything within 75 km of this place's internal point (150 km for reservoirs), not everything inside its boundary: lib/water searches discs, and every row prints its own distance.
  • Server report: satellite turbidity is only computed in a browser, so that term is absent here.
  • USGS gauges did not answer.
  • USGS wells did not answer.
  • Stress uses 1 of 4 terms (drought); missing terms are left out, not assumed.
  • Groundwater has no trend term: one latest level cannot say whether an aquifer is being drawn down.
  • USAspending did not answer for recipients, awarding agencies and NAICS.
  • Obligations are what agencies committed in FY2026 by place of performance: not outlays, and not the recipient's own location.
  • FY2026 closed 20 days ago; agencies report with up to a 45-day lag, so totals are still filling in.
  • Positions are ZIP or city centroids of the registered business address, not building footprints.
  • Sector and ETF names are a stated convention (lib/companies/sectors.ts), not classification by MSCI/S&P and not advice.
  • The indicator block is the NATIONAL set, filtered only by lens. None of these series is keyed to this place: they are United States, gauge, single-state or port series and they are shown as context, not as this place's own readings.

Page assembled 2026-10-20T03:07:23.740Z. Place identity tables pulled 2026-10-01.