Lafayette County, AR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 33.24, -93.61.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 2nd pct · 3,001st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 8th pct · 68th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $169,663
- 43rd pct · 1,727th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 36th pct · 47th of 74 Arkansas counties · median +3.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Arkansas counties: not published this period
- 7th pct · 2,990th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 2nd pct · 73rd of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- 3rd pct · 3,096th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 5th pct · 71st of 75 Arkansas counties · median $912
- 8th pct · 2,791st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 21st pct · 58th of 74 Arkansas counties · median 3.6
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 $94,586 (Aug 2026), +2.4% over one year, -7.2% over five
- 2nd pct · 3,001st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 8th pct · 68th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $169,663
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lafayette County, AR | $94,586 · +2.4% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Arkansas 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 $518 a month on $94,586 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,298 a month: 15.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $94,586 × 80% = $75,669, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $518/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $761 × 52 / 12 = $3,298) = 16% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $94,586 / ($761 × 52) = 2.4
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 #
1,052 jobs at 157 employers (2026 Q1); -0.7% jobs and +4.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 7th pct · 2,990th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 2nd pct · 73rd of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lafayette County, AR | 1,052 jobs · $761/wk · -0.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 171 | $862 | 1.08 | +0.0% |
| Retail trade | 109 | $489 | 1.06 | +0.0% |
| Construction | 100 | $956 | 1.81 | +23.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 63 | $627 | 8.29 | +6.8% |
| Manufacturing | 43 | $756 | 0.51 | -8.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 40 | $461 | 0.67 | +73.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 16 | $1,081 | 0.36 | -11.1% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 10 | $260 | 2.67 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld |
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: 8, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wright Patman Lake | 100 % full · 123k ac-ft | 52 km |
| Caddo Lake | 59 % full · 30k ac-ft | 65 km |
| Lake O the Pines | 93 % full · 241k ac-ft | 99 km |
| Lake Bob Sandlin | 89 % full · 192k ac-ft | 131 km |
| Monticello Reservoir | 73 % full · 35k ac-ft | 134 km |
| Lake Cherokee | 80 % full · 40k ac-ft | 138 km |
| Martin Lake | 79 % full · 76k ac-ft | 141 km |
| Lake Cypress Springs | 90 % full · 67k ac-ft | 145 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 #
moderate (0.32)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.11 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$187.6 m in deposits at 5 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,426, highly concentrated. $148.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (grants $99.3 m, direct payments $46.6 m), $141,186 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bodcaw Bank | $91.9 m · 49.0% share · 1 office | |
| COMMUNITY STATE BANK | $55.2 m · 29.4% share · 1 office | |
| The Huntington National Bank | $15.5 m · 8.3% share · 1 office | |
| Lafayette, AR | $148.5 m FY2026 · $141,186/job | |
| SWA LITHIUM LLC | $99.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodcaw Bank | $91,949,000 | 49.0% | 1 |
| COMMUNITY STATE BANK | $55,187,000 | 29.4% | 1 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $15,495,000 | 8.3% | 1 |
| Farmers Bank & Trust Company | $13,624,000 | 7.3% | 1 |
| The First National Bank of Tom Bean | $11,314,000 | 6.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,426 across 5 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 5 banks with deposits in the county = 49.0² + 29.4² + 8.3² + … (2 more) = 3,426
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 |
|---|---|
| Department of Energy | $99,333,029 |
| Social Security Administration | $40,264,486 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $3,203,423 |
| Department of Defense | $2,612,547 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,374,580 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $614,643 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $70,092 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $56,433 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of Transportation | -$1,219 |
That is $141,186 per covered job, against 1,052 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $148.5 m / 1,052 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $141,186
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 | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| 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 · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +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 | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| 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 | -88,576.00 | 2026-07-01 | -24.4% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
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 #
Lafayette County, AR: 13 findings, 2 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchLafayette County, AR's covered employment is -0.7% 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 = -0.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLafayette County, AR's typical home value is -1.5% 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.momPct = -1.4840383580330139 <= -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
noteLafayette County, AR's average weekly wage was 4.7% 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
- +4.7 % = 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
noteLafayette County, AR's typical home value fell 1.5% from $96,011 in July 2026 to $94,586 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -1.5% = (94585.71238455927 - 96010.54571066232) / 96010.54571066232 × 100
- 94585.71238455927 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 96010.54571066232 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteLafayette County, AR's covered employment was 0.7% 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
- -0.7 % = 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.