Letcher County, KY
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.12, -82.86.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 0th pct · 3,053rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 119th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
- 0th pct · 3,052nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 6th pct · 112th of 120 Kentucky counties · median -2.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Kentucky counties: not published this period
- 32nd pct · 2,161st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 46th pct · 65th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
- 22nd pct · 2,491st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 36th pct · 77th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $953
- 0th pct · 3,045th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 0th pct · 120th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 3.6
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 $64,327 (Aug 2026), -17.3% over one year, -27.9% over five
- 0th pct · 3,053rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 119th of 120 Kentucky counties · median $181,373
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Letcher County, KY | $64,327 · -17.3% 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
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 $352 a month on $64,327 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,978 a month: 8.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $64,327 × 80% = $51,462, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $352/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $918 × 52 / 12 = $3,978) = 9% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $64,327 / ($918 × 52) = 1.3
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 #
4,185 jobs at 493 employers (2026 Q1); +0.3% jobs and +4.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 32nd pct · 2,161st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 46th pct · 65th of 120 Kentucky counties · median 5,237
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Letcher County, KY | 4,185 jobs · $918/wk · +0.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 679 | $535 | 1.66 | -4.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 300 | $347 | 0.80 | +1.7% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 129 | $1,158 | 8.66 | +0.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 109 | $989 | 0.62 | +5.8% |
| Other services | 89 | $960 | 0.71 | +3.5% |
| Manufacturing | 86 | $875 | 0.26 | +207.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 76 | $836 | 0.45 | -5.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 65 | $1,279 | 0.23 | +0.0% |
| Construction | 63 | $901 | 0.29 | -8.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 27 | $380 | 0.39 | +3.8% |
| Information | 21 | $2,070 | 0.27 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 19 | $832 | 0.30 | -13.6% |
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 #
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 #
44 gauges · 0 flooding · 8 with quality panels averaging 97 % · 8 stale
Sites found: 44, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CLINCH RIVER AT KYLES FORD, TN | turb. 115.0 FNU · quality 75 % (4) | 63 km |
| NORTH FORK KENTUCKY RIVER AT WHITESBURG, KY | flow 19.8 ft³/s | 3 km |
| POOR FORK AT CUMBERLAND, KY | flow 27.5 ft³/s | 20 km |
| CARR FORK NEAR SASSAFRAS, KY | stage 7.93 ft · quality 100 % (1) | 20 km |
| USGS-371016082381001 | stage 2.66 ft · STALE | 21 km |
| USGS-371144082383401 | stage 2.65 ft | 21 km |
| ELKHORN CREEK AT BURDINE, KY | flow 1.91 ft³/s | 24 km |
| POWELL RIVER AT BIG STONE GAP, VA | flow 47.2 ft³/s | 29 km |
| NORTH FORK KENTUCKY RIVER AT HAZARD, KY | flow 108.0 ft³/s | 32 km |
| CRANES NEST RIVER NEAR CLINTWOOD, VA | flow 20.5 ft³/s | 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 #
5 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 5, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-370654082482501 | depth 12.2 ft · 1984-11-08 | 5 km |
| USGS-370604082403901 | depth 34.8 ft · 2026-10-05 | 16 km |
| USGS-371033082374301 | depth 22.9 ft · 1984-11-08 | 22 km |
| USGS-364022082450201 | depth 75.4 ft · 2026-10-06 | 51 km |
| USGS-370443082022301 | depth 3.68 ft · 2002-04-11 | 73 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 (0.01)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.03 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$363.2 m in deposits at 9 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,940, highly concentrated. $185.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $153.9 m, grants $31.7 m), $44,322 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Community Trust Bank, Inc. | $260.3 m · 71.7% share · 5 offices | |
| Whitaker Bank | $102.9 m · 28.3% share · 4 offices | |
| Letcher, KY | $185.5 m FY2026 · $44,322/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $152.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Trust Bank, Inc. | $260,342,000 | 71.7% | 5 |
| Whitaker Bank | $102,855,000 | 28.3% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 5,940 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 = 71.7² + 28.3² = 5,940
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 | $140,428,445 |
| Department of Agriculture | $17,168,290 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $11,297,511 |
| Department of Transportation | $7,750,085 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $7,043,692 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,136,934 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $603,916 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $139,093 |
| Small Business Administration | $3,525 |
| Department of Education | $10 |
| Institute of Museum and Library Services | $0 |
| Department of Defense | -$6,661 |
That is $44,322 per covered job, against 4,185 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $185.5 m / 4,185 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $44,322
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 #
Letcher County, KY: 13 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 10 noted
alertLetcher County, KY's typical home value is -17.3% 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 = -17.32378001596947 <= -5
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLetcher County, KY's typical home value is -17.3% 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 = -17.32378001596947 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLetcher County, KY's typical home value is -2.1% 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 = -2.13315911210511 <= -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
noteLetcher County, KY's 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
noteLetcher County, KY's typical home value fell 2.1% from $65,729 in July 2026 to $64,327 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -2.1% = (64327.00367746219 - 65729.11018058495) / 65729.11018058495 × 100
- 64327.00367746219 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 65729.11018058495 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
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.