Lincoln County, CO
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.99, -103.51.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 59th pct · 1,231st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 24th pct · 47th of 62 Colorado counties · median $450,011
- 75th pct · 737th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 96th pct · 3rd of 62 Colorado counties · median +0.2%
- US counties: not published this period
- Colorado counties: not published this period
- 17th pct · 2,669th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 30th pct · 45th of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
- 55th pct · 1,442nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 46th pct · 35th of 64 Colorado counties · median $1,075
- 59th pct · 1,228th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 22nd pct · 48th of 62 Colorado counties · median 6.5
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 $263,037 (Aug 2026), +5.4% over one year, +13.2% over five
- 59th pct · 1,231st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 24th pct · 47th of 62 Colorado counties · median $450,011
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, CO | $263,037 · +5.4% 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
- Colorado 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 $1,440 a month on $263,037 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,602 a month: 31.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $263,037 × 80% = $210,430, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,440/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,062 × 52 / 12 = $4,602) = 31% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $263,037 / ($1,062 × 52) = 4.8
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 #
2,099 jobs at 169 employers (2026 Q1); -5.2% jobs and +3.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 17th pct · 2,669th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 30th pct · 45th of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, CO | 2,099 jobs · $1,062/wk · -5.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 312 | $657 | 1.53 | +3.0% |
| Health care and social assistance | 104 | $1,108 | 0.33 | -4.6% |
| Utilities | 64 | $3,445 | 7.72 | +1.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 62 | $1,222 | 0.72 | -3.1% |
| Construction | 56 | $1,166 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 43 | $812 | 0.69 | -8.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 27 | $1,450 | 0.34 | -6.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 26 | $981 | 0.18 | -13.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 11 | $788 | 0.12 | -42.1% |
| Real estate and rental | 5 | $337 | 0.16 | -16.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | 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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
1 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 1, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JOHN MARTIN RESERVOIR AT CADDOA, CO | 31,150 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 114 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 #
No gauges within 75 km (descend below 1,500 km to load them)
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 #
5 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 5, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-390740103055801 | depth 49.0 ft · 2026-10-05 | 38 km |
| USGS-392616103591001 | level 5,411 ft · 2026-06-02 | 64 km |
| USGS-393358103454800 | depth 10.6 ft · 2005-06-13 | 67 km |
| USGS-385821104194601 | level 6,504 ft · 2026-08-24 | 71 km |
| USGS-385732104204501 | level 6,430 ft · 2023-02-27 | 73 km |
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 #
$229.5 m in deposits at 5 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,766, highly concentrated. $34.4 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $28.2 m, grants $6.1 m), $16,371 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| High Plains Bank | $113.0 m · 49.2% share · 2 offices | |
| The Eastern Colorado Bank | $80.0 m · 34.9% share · 1 office | |
| Stockmens Bank | $19.2 m · 8.3% share · 1 office | |
| Lincoln, CO | $34.4 m FY2026 · $16,371/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $23.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Plains Bank | $112,957,000 | 49.2% | 2 |
| The Eastern Colorado Bank | $80,020,000 | 34.9% | 1 |
| Stockmens Bank | $19,156,000 | 8.3% | 1 |
| Equitable Savings and Loan Association | $17,319,000 | 7.5% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,766 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 49.2² + 34.9² + 8.3² + … (1 more) = 3,766
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 | $20,071,998 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,063,005 |
| Department of Transportation | $4,420,047 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,881,495 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,584,825 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $141,927 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $114,433 |
| Department of Education | $75,371 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $8,783 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $16,371 per covered job, against 2,099 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $34.4 m / 2,099 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,371
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 #
Lincoln County, CO: 9 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 5 noted
alertLincoln County, CO's covered employment is -5.2% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -5.2 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLincoln County, CO's covered employment is -5.2% 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 = -5.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLincoln County, CO's years of wages of 4.8 scores 60 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 23 across Colorado counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |60 across US counties - 23 across Colorado counties|
- 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
watchLincoln County, CO's typical home value of $263,037 scores 60 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 25 across Colorado counties, a gap of 35 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 35 = |60 across US counties - 25 across Colorado counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLincoln County, CO's covered employment was 5.2% 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
- -5.2 % = 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
Read all 9 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.