Chase County, KS
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.30, -96.59.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 24th pct · 2,308th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 61st pct · 41st of 105 Kansas counties · median $153,214
- 61st pct · 1,180th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 43rd pct · 60th of 105 Kansas counties · median +4.4%
- US counties: not published this period
- Kansas counties: not published this period
- 4th pct · 3,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 9th pct · 95th of 105 Kansas counties · median 2,554
- 17th pct · 2,654th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 31st pct · 72nd of 105 Kansas counties · median $943
- 37th pct · 1,917th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 70th pct · 32nd of 105 Kansas counties · median 3.2
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 $172,468 (Aug 2026), +4.0% over one year, +22.6% over five
- 24th pct · 2,308th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 61st pct · 41st of 105 Kansas counties · median $153,214
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Chase County, KS | $172,468 · +4.0% 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
- Kansas 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 $944 a month on $172,468 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,861 a month: 24.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $172,468 × 80% = $137,974, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $944/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $891 × 52 / 12 = $3,861) = 24% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $172,468 / ($891 × 52) = 3.7
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 #
733 jobs at 86 employers (2026 Q1); -0.7% jobs and +4.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 4th pct · 3,078th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 9th pct · 95th of 105 Kansas counties · median 2,554
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Chase County, KS | 733 jobs · $891/wk · -0.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 123 | $1,066 | 2.09 | +4.2% |
| Accommodation and food services | 29 | $582 | 0.44 | +0.0% |
| Construction | 11 | $766 | 0.29 | +22.2% |
| Other services | 10 | $818 | 0.46 | +42.9% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld | |||
| Retail trade | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical 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 #
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 #
8 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 8, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| MELVERN LK NR MELVERN, KS | 178,300 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 81 km |
| MILFORD LAKE NR JUNCTION CITY, KS | 430,000 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 90 km |
| POMONA LK NR QUENEMO, KS | 66,170 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 98 km |
| TUTTLE C LK NR MANHATTAN, KS | 591,200 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 106 km |
| CHENEY RE NR CHENEY, KS | 155,800 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 123 km |
| KANOPOLIS LK NR KANOPOLIS, KS | 60,350 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 124 km |
| CLINTON LK NR LAWRENCE, KS | 128,900 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 130 km |
| PERRY LK NR PERRY, KS | 300,000 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 136 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 #
33 gauges · 0 flooding · 5 with quality panels averaging 77 % · 4 stale
Sites found: 33, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| NEOSHO R AT NEOSHO RAPIDS, KS | flow 3,460 ft³/s · quality 67 % (3) · no flooding | 52 km |
| COTTONWOOD R NR PLYMOUTH, KS | flow 1,750 ft³/s · quality 67 % (3) · no flooding | 23 km |
| SF COTTONWOOD R NR BAZAAR, KS | flow 46.0 ft³/s | 7 km |
| Cottonwood River at Cottonwood Falls | observation not current | 10 km |
| COTTONWOOD R AT COTTONWOOD FALLS, KS | flow 1,710 ft³/s | 10 km |
| CEDAR C NR CEDAR POINT, KS | flow 14.7 ft³/s | 23 km |
| COTTONWOOD R NR FLORENCE, KS | flow 1,280 ft³/s · no flooding | 26 km |
| NEOSHO R NR DUNLAP, KS | stage 16.8 ft | 34 km |
| NEOSHO R NR AMERICUS, KS | flow 1,540 ft³/s · no flooding | 35 km |
| Neosho River at Emporia | observation not current | 37 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 #
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 (0.08)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.23 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$77.4 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 6,980, highly concentrated. $17.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $16.7 m, contracts $643,611), $23,834 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Citizens State Bank | $63.1 m · 81.5% share · 1 office | |
| Cottonwood Valley Bank | $14.4 m · 18.5% share · 2 offices | |
| Chase, KS | $17.5 m FY2026 · $23,834/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $14.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Citizens State Bank | $63,081,000 | 81.5% | 1 |
| Cottonwood Valley Bank | $14,352,000 | 18.5% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 6,980 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 = 81.5² + 18.5² = 6,980
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 | $12,544,548 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,303,259 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $992,741 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $694,902 |
| Department of the Interior | $643,611 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $169,880 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $85,546 |
| Department of Education | $35,791 |
| Department of Transportation | $116 |
That is $23,834 per covered job, against 733 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $17.5 m / 733 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $23,834
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 | -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 #
Chase County, KS: 9 findings, 3 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchChase County, KS' covered employment is -0.7% 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 = -0.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchChase County, KS' typical home value of $172,468 scores 25 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 62 across Kansas counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |25 across US counties - 62 across Kansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchChase County, KS' years of wages of 3.7 scores 37 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 70 across Kansas counties, a gap of 33 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 33 = |37 across US counties - 70 across Kansas 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
noteChase County, KS' average weekly wage was 4.0% 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
- +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
noteChase County, KS' covered employment was 0.7% 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
- -0.7 % = 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.