Talbot County, MD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.75, -76.18.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 92nd pct · 219th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 73rd pct · 7th of 24 Maryland counties · median $420,593
- 20th pct · 2,448th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 26th pct · 18th of 24 Maryland counties · median +1.0%
- 89th pct · 143rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 63rd pct · 8th of 20 Maryland counties · median $1,960
- 68th pct · 1,003rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 26th pct · 18th of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
- 70th pct · 935th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 43rd pct · 14th of 24 Maryland counties · median $1,216
- 93rd pct · 202nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 86th pct · 4th of 24 Maryland counties · median 5.8
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 $490,590 (Aug 2026), -0.1% over one year, +17.1% over five
- 92nd pct · 219th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 73rd pct · 7th of 24 Maryland counties · median $420,593
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Talbot County, MD | $490,590 · -0.1% 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 #
Typical rent $2,195/mo (Aug 2026), +1.1% over one year; price-to-rent 18.6
- 89th pct · 143rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 63rd pct · 8th of 20 Maryland counties · median $1,960
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Talbot County, MD | $2,195/mo · +1.1% 1-yr |
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 $2,685 a month on $490,590 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,005 a month: 53.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $490,590 × 80% = $392,472, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,685/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,155 × 52 / 12 = $5,005) = 54% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $490,590 / ($1,155 × 52) = 8.2
- price-to-rent = $490,590 / ($2,195 × 12) = 18.6
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 #
17,952 jobs at 1,545 employers (2026 Q1); -0.9% jobs and +5.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 68th pct · 1,003rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 26th pct · 18th of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Talbot County, MD | 17,952 jobs · $1,155/wk · -0.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 4,027 | $1,331 | 1.49 | +1.2% |
| Retail trade | 2,627 | $742 | 1.50 | +3.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,243 | $574 | 1.39 | +0.3% |
| Construction | 1,034 | $1,144 | 1.10 | -13.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 944 | $995 | 0.93 | -6.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 937 | $1,554 | 0.76 | -1.4% |
| Other services | 765 | $955 | 1.43 | -7.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 586 | $907 | 1.98 | +4.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 533 | $1,494 | 0.78 | +1.7% |
| Manufacturing | 503 | $1,261 | 0.35 | -2.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 412 | $3,417 | 0.56 | +0.0% |
| Educational services | 237 | $841 | 0.61 | +19.1% |
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 #
1 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 1, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Rock Dam near York, PA | 372.3 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 140 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 #
86 gauges · 0 flooding · 30 with quality panels averaging 90 % · 43 stale
Sites found: 86, 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-384428075355701 | DO 5.90 mg/l · quality 75 % (4) · STALE | 50 km |
| USGS-381922076043001 | temp 18.4 °C · quality 50 % (2) · STALE | 48 km |
| FARM CREEK NEAR TODDVILLE, MD | stage 0.13 ft · quality 50 % (2) · STALE | 48 km |
| JONES FALLS AT MOUTH AT BALTIMORE, MD | flow -17.6 ft³/s · quality 80 % (5) · STALE | 70 km |
| USGS-01653620 | flow 0.33 ft³/s · quality 67 % (3) · STALE | 63 km |
| USGS-381922076043002 | temp 10.1 °C · quality 50 % (2) · STALE | 48 km |
| MURDERKILL RIVER AT FREDERICA, DE | flow -2,340 ft³/s · quality 63 % (4) | 69 km |
| SALLIE HARRIS CREEK NEAR CARMICHAEL, MD | flow 2.00 ft³/s | 25 km |
| TUCKAHOE CREEK NEAR RUTHSBURG, MD | flow 23.9 ft³/s | 32 km |
| FAULKNER BRANCH AT FEDERALSBURG, MD | flow 11.0 ft³/s · STALE | 34 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 #
54 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 54, 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-385756076105301 | depth 2.99 ft · 2011-09-29 | 24 km |
| USGS-383122076055701 | level 4.55 ft · 2009-09-28 | 26 km |
| USGS-383112076053503 | level -2.45 ft · 2009-09-28 | 26 km |
| USGS-383100076061101 | level 6.48 ft · 2009-09-24 | 27 km |
| USGS-382718076062002 | level 3.08 ft · 2009-09-28 | 33 km |
| USGS-384157075454103 | depth 40.1 ft · 2011-12-28 | 37 km |
| USGS-382549076260101 | depth 129.9 ft · 2026-10-06 | 42 km |
| USGS-384333076394701 | depth 181.8 ft · 2026-10-06 | 42 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 (0.04)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.10 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$2.0 bn in deposits at 14 offices of 8 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,247, highly concentrated. $448.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $325.4 m, contracts $108.1 m), $24,995 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Shore United Bank, National Association | $1.1 bn · 53.3% share · 4 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $292.1 m · 14.4% share · 1 office | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $190.3 m · 9.4% share · 1 office | |
| Talbot, MD | $448.7 m FY2026 · $24,995/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $317.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shore United Bank, National Association | $1,083,084,000 | 53.3% | 4 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $292,108,000 | 14.4% | 1 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $190,280,000 | 9.4% | 1 |
| Truist Bank | $114,070,000 | 5.6% | 1 |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $109,013,000 | 5.4% | 2 |
| BayVanguard Bank | $101,701,000 | 5.0% | 2 |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $88,403,000 | 4.4% | 2 |
| The Queenstown Bank of Maryland | $53,251,000 | 2.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,247 across 8 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 8 banks with deposits in the county = 53.3² + 14.4² + 9.4² + … (5 more) = 3,247
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 | $297,642,451 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $84,814,264 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $18,510,597 |
| Department of Agriculture | $17,966,365 |
| Department of Transportation | $13,800,221 |
| Department of Defense | $10,872,440 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,104,172 |
| Department of Commerce | $993,140 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $836,733 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $716,768 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $286,582 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $149,519 |
That is $24,995 per covered job, against 17,952 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $448.7 m / 17,952 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $24,995
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 #
Talbot County, MD: 12 findings, 5 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchTalbot County, MD's years of wages of 8.2 ranks 202nd of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 93.43566296538211 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchTalbot County, MD's covered employment is -0.9% 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 = -0.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchTalbot County, MD's typical asking rent is -1.9% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI 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: rent.momPct = -1.8882799024762413 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchTalbot County, MD's typical home value is -0.1% 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 = -0.08948450337990482 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchTalbot County, MD's covered employment of 17,952 scores 69 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 26 across Maryland counties, a gap of 43 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 43 = |69 across US counties - 26 across Maryland 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.