Echols County, GA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.71, -82.90.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 23rd pct · 2,352nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 26th pct · 117th of 159 Georgia counties · median $219,820
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 77th pct · 682nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 74th pct · 41st of 159 Georgia counties · median +2.6%
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Georgia counties: not published this period
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 2nd pct · 3,147th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 154th of 159 Georgia counties · median 7,095
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 43rd pct · 1,811th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 60th pct · 64th of 159 Georgia counties · median $964
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 25th pct · 2,295th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 23rd pct · 122nd of 159 Georgia counties · median 4.3
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta 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 $169,066 (Aug 2026), +5.7% over one year, +13.2% over five
- 23rd pct · 2,352nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 26th pct · 117th of 159 Georgia counties · median $219,820
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Echols County, GA | $169,066 · +5.7% 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
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $925 a month on $169,066 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,385 a month: 21.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $169,066 × 80% = $135,253, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $925/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,012 × 52 / 12 = $4,385) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $169,066 / ($1,012 × 52) = 3.2
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 #
514 jobs at 52 employers (2026 Q1); -21.5% jobs and +10.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 2nd pct · 3,147th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 154th of 159 Georgia counties · median 7,095
- counties in the Valdosta metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Valdosta metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Echols County, GA | 514 jobs · $1,012/wk · -21.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 184 | $1,124 | 49.56 | -44.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 35 | $1,711 | 1.78 | +2.9% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Retail trade | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical services | withheld | |||
| Health care and social assistance | withheld | |||
| Other services | 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 #
No reservoir gauges within 150 km (or the camera is above the gauge altitude)
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 #
38 gauges · 0 flooding · 15 with quality panels averaging 95 % · 15 stale
Sites found: 38, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| FALMOUTH SPRING AT FALMOUTH, FL | stage 32.7 ft · quality 75 % (4) · STALE | 45 km |
| BLUE SPRINGS NEAR DELL,FL | stage 20.2 ft · quality 75 % (4) | 73 km |
| MADISON BLUE SPRING NR BLUE SPRINGS, FL | flow 76.2 ft³/s · quality 75 % (4) · no flooding | 42 km |
| ALAPAHA RIVER AT STATENVILLE, GA | flow 390.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 13 km |
| ALAPAHA RIVER NEAR JENNINGS FLA | flow 491.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (2) · no flooding | 21 km |
| SUWANNEE R NR BENTON FLA | flow 1,250 ft³/s · no flooding · STALE | 29 km |
| HUNTER CREEK NEAR BELMONT FLA | flow 4.30 ft³/s · STALE | 31 km |
| SUWANNEE RIVER AT US 441, AT FARGO, GA | flow 583.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 32 km |
| SUWANNEE RIVER ABOVE FARGO, GA | stage 8.83 ft | 34 km |
| HOLTON SPRINGS NEAR FT. UNION,FL | flow 22.2 ft³/s · STALE | 34 km |
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 #
41 wells in 3 named aquifers: Floridan aquifer system, Surficial aquifer system, Intermediate aquifer system
Sites found: 41, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Floridan aquifer system | depth 98.4 ft · 1973-11-05 | 22 km |
| Floridan aquifer system | depth 83.3 ft · 1970-05-07 | 26 km |
| Floridan aquifer system | level 41.7 ft · 2026-10-04 | 33 km |
| Floridan aquifer system | depth 30.2 ft · 1981-10-06 | 36 km |
| Floridan aquifer system | depth 86.7 ft · 1973-12-05 | 37 km |
| USGS-304949083165301 | depth 131.6 ft · 2026-10-05 | 39 km |
| USGS-305241083154401 | depth 128.4 ft · 1983-09-29 | 39 km |
| Floridan aquifer system | depth 83.9 ft · 1982-04-20 | 41 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 (0.02)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.05 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
FDIC publishes no Summary of Deposits rows for this county. $26.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $17.9 m, grants $8.3 m), $50,958 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| county 13101, GA | $26.2 m FY2026 · $50,958/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $13.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
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 | $12,663,346 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,109,180 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,866,581 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $409,100 |
| Department of Justice | $144,336 |
That is $50,958 per covered job, against 514 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $26.2 m / 514 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $50,958
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 #
Echols County, GA: 10 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 8 noted
alertEchols County, GA's covered employment is -21.5% 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 = -21.5 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchEchols County, GA's covered employment is -21.5% 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 = -21.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteEchols County, GA's covered employment was 21.5% 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
- -21.5 % = 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
noteEchols County, GA's average weekly wage was 10.2% 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
- +10.2 % = 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
noteEchols County, GA's typical home value fell 0.4% from $169,781 in July 2026 to $169,066 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.4% = (169066.34392773567 - 169781.3319498012) / 169781.3319498012 × 100
- 169066.34392773567 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 169781.3319498012 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 10 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.