Early County, GA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 31.32, -84.91.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 8th pct · 2,797th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 144th of 159 Georgia counties · median $219,820
- 94th pct · 179th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 91st pct · 14th of 159 Georgia counties · median +2.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Georgia counties: not published this period
- 25th pct · 2,412th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 31st pct · 110th of 159 Georgia counties · median 7,095
- 46th pct · 1,707th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 61st pct · 61st of 159 Georgia counties · median $964
- 9th pct · 2,783rd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 8th pct · 145th of 159 Georgia counties · median 4.3
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 $128,731 (Aug 2026), +9.2% over one year, +19.1% over five
- 8th pct · 2,797th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 144th of 159 Georgia counties · median $219,820
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Early County, GA | $128,731 · +9.2% 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
- Georgia 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 $705 a month on $128,731 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,442 a month: 15.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $128,731 × 80% = $102,984, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $705/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,025 × 52 / 12 = $4,442) = 16% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $128,731 / ($1,025 × 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 #
3,079 jobs at 266 employers (2026 Q1); -14.4% jobs and -5.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 25th pct · 2,412th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 31st pct · 110th of 159 Georgia counties · median 7,095
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Early County, GA | 3,079 jobs · $1,025/wk · -14.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 321 | $472 | 1.07 | -1.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 274 | $1,320 | 2.32 | -4.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 108 | $837 | 4.86 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 77 | $1,257 | 0.36 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 63 | $1,102 | 0.50 | -26.7% |
| Other services | 19 | $858 | 0.21 | -50.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 7 | $791 | 0.15 | -12.5% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | 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 #
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 #
$205.1 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 8,419, highly concentrated. $91.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $74.6 m, grants $16.2 m), $29,545 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First State Bank of Blakely | $187.3 m · 91.3% share · 1 office | |
| Georgia Community Bank | $17.8 m · 8.7% share · 1 office | |
| Early, GA | $91.0 m FY2026 · $29,545/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $62.0 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First State Bank of Blakely | $187,343,000 | 91.3% | 1 |
| Georgia Community Bank | $17,753,000 | 8.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 8,419 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 = 91.3² + 8.7² = 8,419
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 | $51,825,431 |
| Department of Agriculture | $12,193,017 |
| Department of Transportation | $9,970,709 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,680,552 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $5,219,263 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $995,116 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $507,992 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $453,354 |
| Department of Defense | $79,851 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $43,464 |
That is $29,545 per covered job, against 3,079 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $91.0 m / 3,079 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $29,545
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 #
Early County, GA: 18 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 14 noted
alertEarly County, GA's covered employment is -14.4% 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 = -14.4 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchEarly County, GA's covered employment is -14.4% 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 = -14.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchEarly County, GA's average weekly wage is -5.7% 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 = -5.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchEarly County, GA's momentum index is -0.31, 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 = -0.3089089227179827 <= -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
noteEarly County, GA's covered employment was 14.4% 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
- -14.4 % = 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.