Kanawha County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.33, -81.52.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 17th pct · 2,536th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 50th pct · 28th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 33rd pct · 2,041st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 35th pct · 36th of 55 West Virginia counties · median +2.6%
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 24th pct · 1,026th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 80th pct · 4th of 16 West Virginia counties · median $1,066
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 90th pct · 309th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 82nd pct · 570th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 88th pct · 7th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 7th pct · 2,821st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 31st pct · 38th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.7
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston 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 $151,294 (Sep 2026), +1.4% over one year, +26.3% over five
- 17th pct · 2,536th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 50th pct · 28th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kanawha County, WV | $151,294 · +1.4% 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 $1,238/mo (Sep 2026), +3.2% over one year; price-to-rent 10.2
- 24th pct · 1,026th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 80th pct · 4th of 16 West Virginia counties · median $1,066
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kanawha County, WV | $1,238/mo · +3.2% 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 $838 a month on $151,294 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,495 a month: 15.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $151,294 × 80% = $121,036, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $838/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,268 × 52 / 12 = $5,495) = 15% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $151,294 / ($1,268 × 52) = 2.3
- price-to-rent = $151,294 / ($1,238 × 12) = 10.2
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 #
96,301 jobs at 6,845 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +2.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 90th pct · 309th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 100th pct · 1st of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Charleston metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Charleston metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kanawha County, WV | 96,301 jobs · $1,268/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 21,961 | $1,371 | 1.52 | +2.7% |
| Retail trade | 9,209 | $781 | 0.98 | -2.2% |
| Accommodation and food services | 7,741 | $477 | 0.89 | +1.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 5,491 | $1,744 | 0.83 | -0.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 5,074 | $839 | 0.93 | +1.6% |
| Construction | 3,890 | $1,618 | 0.77 | +5.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 3,306 | $2,247 | 0.84 | -5.1% |
| Manufacturing | 3,179 | $1,446 | 0.41 | -4.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,895 | $1,745 | 0.78 | +1.8% |
| Other services | 2,674 | $934 | 0.93 | +2.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 2,070 | $1,431 | 0.51 | -2.1% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 1,383 | $3,129 | 4.03 | -0.3% |
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 #
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 #
$6.8 bn in deposits at 49 offices of 13 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,731, moderately concentrated. $2.1 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.3 bn, grants $718.4 m), $21,495 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $2.0 bn · 29.6% share · 7 offices | |
| United Bank | $1.4 bn · 20.0% share · 4 offices | |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $977.5 m · 14.4% share · 11 offices | |
| Kanawha, WV | $2.1 bn FY2026 · $21,495/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.2 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $2,005,711,000 | 29.6% | 7 |
| United Bank | $1,353,260,000 | 20.0% | 4 |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $977,463,000 | 14.4% | 11 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $709,689,000 | 10.5% | 5 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $576,870,000 | 8.5% | 5 |
| WesBanco Bank, Inc. | $375,494,000 | 5.5% | 4 |
| The Poca Valley Bank, Inc. | $287,149,000 | 4.2% | 5 |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $254,653,000 | 3.8% | 2 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $135,073,000 | 2.0% | 2 |
| Peoples Bank | $96,474,000 | 1.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,731 across 13 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 13 banks with deposits in the county = 29.6² + 20.0² + 14.4² + … (10 more) = 1,731
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 | $1,076,662,020 |
| Department of Education | $300,783,007 |
| Department of Transportation | $215,563,410 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $135,906,745 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $109,518,913 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $86,603,504 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $53,833,389 |
| Department of Defense | $16,573,764 |
| Department of Labor | $13,137,637 |
| Department of Justice | $12,395,985 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $11,138,733 |
| Department of Agriculture | $9,990,980 |
That is $21,495 per covered job, against 96,301 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.1 bn / 96,301 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,495
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 #
Kanawha County, WV: 15 findings, 3 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchKanawha County, WV's covered employment is -0.1% 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 = -0.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchKanawha County, WV's typical asking rent of $1,238 scores 24 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 80 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 56 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 56 = |24 across US counties - 80 across West Virginia counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchKanawha County, WV's typical home value of $151,294 scores 17 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 50 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 33 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 33 = |17 across US counties - 50 across West Virginia counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteKanawha County, WV's average weekly wage was 2.1% 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
- +2.1 % = 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
noteKanawha County, WV's typical home value fell 0.3% from $151,745 in August 2026 to $151,294 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.3% = (151294.4146270084 - 151744.61748825546) / 151744.61748825546 × 100
- 151294.4146270084 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 151744.61748825546 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
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.