San Benito County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.61, -121.09.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 98th pct · 51st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 71st pct · 17th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 17th pct · 2,530th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 35th pct · 38th of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 97th pct · 40th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 75th pct · 13th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 69th pct · 986th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 29th pct · 41st of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 73rd pct · 862nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 42nd pct · 33rd of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 98th pct · 33rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 87th pct · 8th of 58 California counties · median 7.4
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 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 $766,958 (Aug 2026), -0.5% over one year, -0.4% over five
- 98th pct · 51st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 71st pct · 17th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | $766,958 · -0.5% 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 $2,877/mo (Aug 2026), +5.5% over one year; price-to-rent 22.2
- 97th pct · 40th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 75th pct · 13th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | $2,877/mo · +5.5% 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 $4,198 a month on $766,958 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,087 a month: 82.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $766,958 × 80% = $613,566, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $4,198/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,174 × 52 / 12 = $5,087) = 83% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $766,958 / ($1,174 × 52) = 12.6
- price-to-rent = $766,958 / ($2,877 × 12) = 22.2
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 #
18,367 jobs at 2,161 employers (2026 Q1); +4.7% jobs and +4.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 69th pct · 986th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 29th pct · 41st of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| San Benito County, CA | 18,367 jobs · $1,174/wk · +4.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,885 | $1,502 | 1.95 | +0.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,537 | $757 | 0.56 | +3.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 1,528 | $1,150 | 11.52 | +17.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,518 | $582 | 0.92 | -2.0% |
| Retail trade | 1,489 | $849 | 0.83 | -2.8% |
| Construction | 1,445 | $1,416 | 1.50 | +0.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,360 | $913 | 1.76 | +195.7% |
| Administrative and waste services | 801 | $742 | 0.77 | -28.4% |
| Other services | 482 | $666 | 0.88 | -1.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 184 | $2,111 | 0.25 | -21.7% |
| Real estate and rental | 167 | $1,076 | 0.59 | +33.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 154 | $720 | 0.51 | +0.7% |
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 #
$1.2 bn in deposits at 7 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,044, highly concentrated. $387.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $294.0 m, contracts $83.4 m), $21,112 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $293.9 m · 24.5% share · 1 office | |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $286.6 m · 23.9% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $284.9 m · 23.8% share · 2 offices | |
| San Benito, CA | $387.8 m FY2026 · $21,112/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $293,870,000 | 24.5% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $286,595,000 | 23.9% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $284,911,000 | 23.8% | 2 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $179,642,000 | 15.0% | 1 |
| Mechanics Bank | $83,708,000 | 7.0% | 1 |
| Citizens Business Bank, National Association | $70,323,000 | 5.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,044 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 24.5² + 23.9² + 23.8² + … (3 more) = 2,044
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 #
That is $21,112 per covered job, against 18,367 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $387.8 m / 18,367 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,112
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 | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| 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 #
San Benito County, CA: 16 findings, 5 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchSan Benito County, CA's years of wages of 12.6 ranks 33rd 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages percentile = 98.95493141737427 >= 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
watchSan Benito County, CA's years of wages is 12.6, a watch level here: typical home value worth 10 or more years of one average covered wage (typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; 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: yearsOfWages = 12.563196081031437 >= 10
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSan Benito County, CA's typical home value is -0.5% 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 = -0.5067437020307598 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchSan Benito County, CA's covered employment of 18,367 scores 69 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 30 across California counties, a gap of 40 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 40 = |69 across US counties - 30 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchSan Benito County, CA's average weekly wage of $1,174 scores 73 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 43 across California counties, a gap of 30 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 30 = |73 across US counties - 43 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.