Pearl River County, MS

Home values #

Typical home $214,865 (Aug 2026), +1.9% over one year, +22.0% over five

• 42nd pct · 1,772nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
• 84th pct · 13th of 80 Mississippi counties · median $151,974

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 $1,210/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 14.8

• 23rd pct · 1,076th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
• 17th pct · 15th of 18 Mississippi counties · median $1,402

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 $1,176 a month on $214,865 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,657 a month: 32.2% of one job’s pay.

• payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $214,865 × 80% = $171,892, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,176/mo principal and interest
• wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $844 × 52 / 12 = $3,657) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
• years of wages = $214,865 / ($844 × 52) = 4.9
• price-to-rent = $214,865 / ($1,210 × 12) = 14.8

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 #

12,836 jobs at 1,069 employers (2026 Q1); +9.9% jobs and +5.9% average weekly wage over the year

• 61st pct · 1,256th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
• 75th pct · 21st of 82 Mississippi counties · median 6,322

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 #

79 gauges · 0 flooding · 10 with quality panels averaging 73 % · 12 stale

Sites found: 79, 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 #

4 wells in 0 named aquifers:

Sites found: 4, 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 (0.10)

Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.27 / 0.55

Banks & federal dollars #

$988.7 m in deposits at 13 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,515, highly concentrated. $426.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $412.9 m, grants $7.0 m), $33,250 per covered job

Deposit concentration is 2,515 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.

HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 37.7² + 22.5² + 22.5² + … (4 more) = 2,515

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.

That is $33,250 per covered job, against 12,836 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.

per job = FY2026 obligations $426.8 m / 12,836 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $33,250

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.

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 #

Pearl River County, MS: 13 findings, 2 at a watch level and 11 noted

1. watchPearl River County, MS' typical home value of $214,865 scores 42 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 85 across Mississippi counties, a gap of 43 points.

   Period 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 43 = |42 across US counties - 85 across Mississippi counties|

   position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

2. watchPearl River County, MS' price-to-rent ratio of 14.8 scores 25 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 65 across Mississippi counties, a gap of 40 points.

   Period 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 40 = |25 across US counties - 65 across Mississippi counties|
   • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

   position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

3. notePearl River County, MS' covered employment was 9.9% 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

   • +9.9 % = 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

4. notePearl River County, MS' average weekly wage was 5.9% 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

   • +5.9 % = 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

5. notePearl River County, MS' typical home value fell 0.3% from $215,504 in July 2026 to $214,865 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.

   Period 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • -0.3% = (214864.5508234958 - 215503.74597705607) / 215503.74597705607 × 100
   • 214864.5508234958 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
   • 215503.74597705607 = 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.