Butler County, KY
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.21, -86.68.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 26th pct · 2,261st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 47th pct · 64th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 2nd pct · 2,994th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 27th pct · 87th of 120 Kentucky counties · median -2.1%
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Kentucky counties: not published this period
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 22nd pct · 2,490th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 29th pct · 85th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 28th pct · 2,307th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 48th pct · 62nd of 120 Kentucky counties · median $953
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 33rd pct · 2,038th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 50th pct · 60th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 3.6
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green 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 $175,596 (Aug 2026), -8.0% over one year, +4.1% over five
- 26th pct · 2,261st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 47th pct · 64th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Butler County, KY | $175,596 · -8.0% 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
- Kentucky counties: not published this period
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green 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 $961 a month on $175,596 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,095 a month: 23.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $175,596 × 80% = $140,477, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $961/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $945 × 52 / 12 = $4,095) = 23% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $175,596 / ($945 × 52) = 3.6
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 #
2,785 jobs at 316 employers (2026 Q1); -4.9% jobs and +3.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 22nd pct · 2,490th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 29th pct · 85th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- counties in the Bowling Green metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Bowling Green metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Butler County, KY | 2,785 jobs · $945/wk · -4.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 911 | $1,262 | 4.07 | -3.5% |
| Retail trade | 249 | $524 | 0.92 | +2.9% |
| Construction | 128 | $870 | 0.88 | +23.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 89 | $1,064 | 0.78 | +20.3% |
| Other services | 74 | $816 | 0.89 | -12.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 54 | $1,104 | 0.46 | -1.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 50 | $1,680 | 0.32 | -49.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 42 | $1,051 | 0.22 | +7.7% |
| Information | 10 | $1,031 | 0.19 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 9 | $630 | 0.21 | -10.0% |
| Unclassified | 2 | $926 | 0.34 | +100.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 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 #
D1 moderate 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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$298.0 m in deposits at 4 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 8,162, highly concentrated. $96.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $92.8 m, grants $3.4 m), $34,590 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Morgantown Bank & Trust Company, Incorporated | $267.5 m · 89.8% share · 3 offices | |
| Peoples Bank | $30.5 m · 10.2% share · 1 office | |
| Butler, KY | $96.3 m FY2026 · $34,590/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $74.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown Bank & Trust Company, Incorporated | $267,492,000 | 89.8% | 3 |
| Peoples Bank | $30,520,000 | 10.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 8,162 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 = 89.8² + 10.2² = 8,162
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 | $65,389,571 |
| Department of Agriculture | $9,564,006 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,169,798 |
| Department of Education | $8,081,124 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,451,096 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,414,436 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,052,915 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $231,818 |
| Small Business Administration | -$22,843 |
That is $34,590 per covered job, against 2,785 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $96.3 m / 2,785 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $34,590
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 | -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 #
Butler County, KY: 15 findings, 2 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertButler County, KY's typical home value is -8.0% against a year earlier, an alert level here: typical home value at least 5 percent below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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: home.yoyPct = -8.044417282483606 <= -5
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
alertButler County, KY's covered employment is -4.9% 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 = -4.9 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchButler County, KY's typical home value is -8.0% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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: home.yoyPct = -8.044417282483606 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchButler County, KY's covered employment is -4.9% 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 = -4.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchButler County, KY's typical home value is -1.6% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; 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: home.momPct = -1.5761417441063499 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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.