Sherman County, KS
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.35, -101.72.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 16th pct · 2,550th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 49th pct · 54th of 105 Kansas counties · median $153,214
- 45th pct · 1,661st of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 29th pct · 74th of 105 Kansas counties · median +4.4%
- US counties: not published this period
- Kansas counties: not published this period
- 19th pct · 2,598th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 46th pct · 57th of 105 Kansas counties · median 2,554
- 14th pct · 2,737th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 25th pct · 78th of 105 Kansas counties · median $943
- 28th pct · 2,188th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 57th pct · 45th 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 $152,451 (Aug 2026), +2.6% over one year, +32.6% over five
- 16th pct · 2,550th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 49th pct · 54th of 105 Kansas counties · median $153,214
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sherman County, KS | $152,451 · +2.6% 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 $834 a month on $152,451 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,787 a month: 22.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $152,451 × 80% = $121,961, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $834/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $874 × 52 / 12 = $3,787) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $152,451 / ($874 × 52) = 3.4
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 #
2,360 jobs at 271 employers (2026 Q1); +2.9% jobs and +3.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 19th pct · 2,598th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 46th pct · 57th of 105 Kansas counties · median 2,554
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sherman County, KS | 2,360 jobs · $874/wk · +2.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 405 | $646 | 1.76 | +7.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 251 | $1,540 | 2.78 | +6.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 81 | $1,304 | 0.84 | -5.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 64 | $866 | 0.48 | +39.1% |
| Construction | 54 | $974 | 0.44 | -8.5% |
| Other services | 48 | $697 | 0.68 | -2.0% |
| Information | 34 | $947 | 0.78 | +21.4% |
| Manufacturing | 30 | $1,164 | 0.16 | +7.1% |
| Real estate and rental | 8 | $1,013 | 0.22 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | 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 #
3 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 1 stale
Sites found: 3, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| SF REPUBLICAN R NR CO-KS ST LINE, KS | flow 0.00 ft³/s · no flooding | 44 km |
| ARIKAREE RIVER ABV SPRING CANYON NR IDALIA CO | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 74 km |
| South Fork Republican River near Benkelman, Nebr. | flow 0.00 ft³/s · no flooding | 75 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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$316.9 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,095, highly concentrated. $42.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $41.9 m, grants $837,764), $18,117 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Western State Bank | $121.8 m · 38.4% share · 1 office | |
| The Bank | $92.5 m · 29.2% share · 1 office | |
| FNB Bank | $86.2 m · 27.2% share · 1 office | |
| Sherman, KS | $42.8 m FY2026 · $18,117/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $32.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Western State Bank | $121,802,000 | 38.4% | 1 |
| The Bank | $92,474,000 | 29.2% | 1 |
| FNB Bank | $86,202,000 | 27.2% | 1 |
| Outdoor Bank | $16,444,000 | 5.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,095 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 = 38.4² + 29.2² + 27.2² + … (1 more) = 3,095
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 | $29,651,822 |
| Department of Agriculture | $8,552,543 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,234,977 |
| Department of Education | $1,130,021 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $390,662 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $310,367 |
| Department of Transportation | $247,395 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $199,707 |
| Department of Commerce | $37,928 |
That is $18,117 per covered job, against 2,360 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $42.8 m / 2,360 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,117
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 | 3.00 | 2026-10-06 | -50.0% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| 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 | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| 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 #
Sherman County, KS: 5 findings, 1 at a watch level and 4 noted
watchSherman County, KS' typical home value of $152,451 scores 17 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 49 across Kansas counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |17 across US counties - 49 across Kansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteSherman County, KS' average weekly wage was 3.1% 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
- +3.1 % = 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
noteSherman County, KS' covered employment was 2.9% 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
- +2.9 % = 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
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Sherman County, KS is due between 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Sherman County, KS is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.