Hardee County, FL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 27.49, -81.82.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 53rd pct · 1,420th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 55th of 67 Florida counties · median $307,929
- 38th pct · 1,870th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 84th pct · 11th of 67 Florida counties · median -0.8%
- US counties: not published this period
- Florida counties: not published this period
- 45th pct · 1,741st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 24th pct · 51st of 67 Florida counties · median 43,443
- 19th pct · 2,576th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 11th pct · 59th of 67 Florida counties · median $1,084
- 67th pct · 989th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 42nd pct · 39th of 67 Florida counties · median 5.4
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 $244,900 (Aug 2026), +2.0% over one year, +38.2% over five
- 53rd pct · 1,420th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 55th of 67 Florida counties · median $307,929
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hardee County, FL | $244,900 · +2.0% 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
- Florida 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 $1,341 a month on $244,900 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,917 a month: 34.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $244,900 × 80% = $195,920, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,341/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $904 × 52 / 12 = $3,917) = 34% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $244,900 / ($904 × 52) = 5.2
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 #
7,013 jobs at 597 employers (2026 Q1); -3.6% jobs and -0.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 45th pct · 1,741st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 24th pct · 51st of 67 Florida counties · median 43,443
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hardee County, FL | 7,013 jobs · $904/wk · -3.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 978 | $910 | 0.93 | -1.9% |
| Accommodation and food services | 969 | $638 | 1.54 | -1.5% |
| Retail trade | 836 | $700 | 1.22 | +1.5% |
| Manufacturing | 311 | $855 | 0.55 | -5.2% |
| Construction | 286 | $915 | 0.78 | -9.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 184 | $623 | 0.46 | -9.4% |
| Utilities | 170 | $2,352 | 6.14 | -26.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 142 | $1,441 | 0.50 | -3.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 134 | $1,199 | 0.45 | -2.2% |
| Other services | 130 | $531 | 0.62 | +7.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 108 | $1,217 | 0.40 | -16.3% |
| Educational services | 72 | $480 | 0.48 | +89.5% |
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: 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 #
high (0.50)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$578.8 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 7,713, highly concentrated. $130.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $119.4 m, grants $7.9 m), $18,577 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Crews Bank & Trust | $502.6 m · 86.8% share · 2 offices | |
| First National Bank of Wauchula | $76.2 m · 13.2% share · 1 office | |
| Hardee, FL | $130.3 m FY2026 · $18,577/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $109.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crews Bank & Trust | $502,632,000 | 86.8% | 2 |
| First National Bank of Wauchula | $76,217,000 | 13.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 7,713 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 86.8² + 13.2² = 7,713
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 | $100,511,408 |
| Department of Agriculture | $11,482,523 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,032,819 |
| Department of Transportation | $7,794,551 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $603,294 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $469,153 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $326,994 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $60,000 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $18,577 per covered job, against 7,013 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $130.3 m / 7,013 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,577
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 #
Hardee County, FL: 13 findings, 1 at an alert level, 5 at a watch level and 7 noted
alertHardee County, FL's covered employment is -3.6% 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 = -3.6 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHardee County, FL's covered employment is -3.6% 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 = -3.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchHardee County, FL's average weekly wage is -0.8% 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 = -0.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHardee County, FL's momentum index is -0.32, a watch level here: momentum index in the cooling band (the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; 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: momentum = -0.3224501563522722 <= -0.25
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHardee County, FL's typical home value of +2.0% scores 39 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 85 across Florida counties, a gap of 46 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 46 = |39 across US counties - 85 across Florida 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.