Union County, AR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 33.17, -92.60.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 9th pct · 2,760th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 24th pct · 56th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $169,663
- 18th pct · 2,499th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 19th pct · 60th of 74 Arkansas counties · median +3.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Arkansas counties: not published this period
- 66th pct · 1,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 17th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- 84th pct · 489th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 93rd pct · 6th of 75 Arkansas counties · median $912
- 3rd pct · 2,950th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 10th pct · 66th 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 $133,266 (Aug 2026), -0.3% over one year, -4.6% over five
- 9th pct · 2,760th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 24th pct · 56th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $169,663
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Union County, AR | $133,266 · -0.3% 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 $729 a month on $133,266 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,633 a month: 12.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $133,266 × 80% = $106,613, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $729/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,300 × 52 / 12 = $5,633) = 13% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $133,266 / ($1,300 × 52) = 2.0
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 #
16,145 jobs at 1,195 employers (2026 Q1); +0.2% jobs and -1.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 66th pct · 1,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 17th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Union County, AR | 16,145 jobs · $1,300/wk · +0.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,610 | $1,866 | 2.01 | +1.6% |
| Retail trade | 2,006 | $613 | 1.27 | -0.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,374 | $347 | 0.95 | +10.2% |
| Construction | 1,190 | $1,463 | 1.41 | -3.7% |
| Administrative and waste services | 980 | $1,443 | 1.07 | -3.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 612 | $1,750 | 0.90 | -4.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 541 | $1,937 | 0.87 | +2.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 372 | $1,282 | 0.57 | -6.8% |
| Other services | 370 | $860 | 0.77 | -8.2% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 270 | $1,272 | 4.70 | +1.1% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 191 | $444 | 0.72 | -1.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 154 | $1,150 | 0.62 | +15.8% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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: 2, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Caddo Lake | 53 % full · 30k ac-ft | 133 km |
| Wright Patman Lake | 100 % full · 123k ac-ft | 146 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 (0.45)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 + 0.3×0.09 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$1.6 bn in deposits at 19 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,068, highly concentrated. $278.4 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $263.3 m, grants $14.9 m), $17,241 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Financial Bank | $817.0 m · 50.5% share · 6 offices | |
| Smackover State Bank | $210.4 m · 13.0% share · 4 offices | |
| Simmons Bank | $207.5 m · 12.8% share · 3 offices | |
| Union, AR | $278.4 m FY2026 · $17,241/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $249.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Financial Bank | $816,993,000 | 50.5% | 6 |
| Smackover State Bank | $210,413,000 | 13.0% | 4 |
| Simmons Bank | $207,470,000 | 12.8% | 3 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $148,256,000 | 9.2% | 2 |
| Southern Bancorp Bank | $144,029,000 | 8.9% | 2 |
| Regions Bank | $45,079,000 | 2.8% | 1 |
| Generations Bank | $44,174,000 | 2.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,068 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 50.5² + 13.0² + 12.8² + … (4 more) = 3,068
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 | $223,611,707 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $24,646,390 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $10,794,240 |
| Department of Transportation | $10,385,307 |
| Department of Education | $4,266,690 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,691,092 |
| Delta Regional Authority | $1,446,080 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,100,085 |
| Department of Agriculture | $187,111 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $174,158 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $56,386 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $17,241 per covered job, against 16,145 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $278.4 m / 16,145 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $17,241
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 | 12.28 | 2026-10-04 | -0.1% |
| 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 | 2026-10-05 | +0.1% |
| 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 #
Union County, AR: 8 findings, 2 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchUnion County, AR's average weekly wage is -1.5% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.avgWeeklyWage = -1.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchUnion County, AR's typical home value is -0.3% 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -0.3235927595458772 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteUnion County, AR's average weekly wage was 1.5% 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
- -1.5 % = 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
noteUnion County, AR's covered employment was 0.2% 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
- +0.2 % = 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
noteUnion County, AR's years of wages of 2.0 ranks 2,950th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of 4.3.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 4 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published yearsOfWages
- 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
Read all 8 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.