Lawrence County, KY
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.07, -82.74.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 16th pct · 2,566th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 32nd pct · 81st of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
- 42nd pct · 5th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median $153,214
- 10th pct · 2,752nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 51st pct · 59th of 120 Kentucky counties · median -2.1%
- 28th pct · 6th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median +1.5%
- US counties: not published this period
- Kentucky counties: not published this period
- counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro: not published this period
- 24th pct · 2,423rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 81st of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- 0th pct · 8th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median 11,177
- 12th pct · 2,799th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 21st pct · 94th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $953
- 14th pct · 7th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median $1,051
- 29th pct · 2,175th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 44th pct · 67th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 3.6
- 71st pct · 3rd of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · 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 $150,810 (Aug 2026), -2.0% over one year, +16.5% over five
- 16th pct · 2,566th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 32nd pct · 81st of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
- 42nd pct · 5th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median $153,214
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence County, KY | $150,810 · -2.0% 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 Huntington-Ashland metro: 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 $825 a month on $150,810 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,727 a month: 22.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $150,810 × 80% = $120,648, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $825/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $860 × 52 / 12 = $3,727) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $150,810 / ($860 × 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 #
3,048 jobs at 364 employers (2026 Q1); -19.6% jobs and +1.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 24th pct · 2,423rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 81st of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- 0th pct · 8th of 8 counties in the Huntington-Ashland metro · median 11,177
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence County, KY | 3,048 jobs · $860/wk · -19.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 623 | $572 | 2.10 | -3.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 198 | $1,267 | 1.70 | +4.8% |
| Other services | 115 | $614 | 1.26 | -11.5% |
| Construction | 104 | $1,149 | 0.65 | +1.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 75 | $1,173 | 0.36 | +1.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 63 | $818 | 0.51 | -7.4% |
| Manufacturing | 62 | $662 | 0.25 | +47.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 54 | $710 | 0.31 | -5.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 28 | $823 | 0.60 | +0.0% |
| Information | 7 | $908 | 0.12 | +0.0% |
| Unclassified | 7 | $1,211 | 1.08 | +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 #
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 #
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 #
$168.4 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,876, highly concentrated. $108.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $108.1 m, grants $626,643), $35,709 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First State Bank | $51.7 m · 30.7% share · 1 office | |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $51.4 m · 30.6% share · 1 office | |
| Citizens Bank of Kentucky, Inc. | $51.4 m · 30.5% share · 1 office | |
| Lawrence, KY | $108.8 m FY2026 · $35,709/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $106.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First State Bank | $51,707,000 | 30.7% | 1 |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $51,442,000 | 30.6% | 1 |
| Citizens Bank of Kentucky, Inc. | $51,414,000 | 30.5% | 1 |
| Kentucky Farmers Bank Corporation | $13,822,000 | 8.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,876 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 = 30.7² + 30.6² + 30.5² + … (1 more) = 2,876
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 | $91,815,926 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $10,351,135 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $3,932,934 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,211,224 |
| Department of Agriculture | $624,379 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $393,651 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $211,566 |
| Department of Transportation | $168,501 |
| Department of Defense | $131,332 |
That is $35,709 per covered job, against 3,048 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $108.8 m / 3,048 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $35,709
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 #
Lawrence County, KY: 13 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 8 noted
alertLawrence County, KY's covered employment is -19.6% 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 = -19.6 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLawrence County, KY's covered employment is -19.6% 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 = -19.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLawrence County, KY's typical home value is -2.0% 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 = -2.0108675810674175 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLawrence County, KY's momentum index is -0.37, 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 = -0.3699914048219873 <= -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
watchLawrence County, KY's typical home value of -2.0% scores 10 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 51 across Kentucky counties, a gap of 41 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 41 = |10 across US counties - 51 across Kentucky counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; 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.