Brown County, NE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.36, -99.92.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 18th pct · 2,498th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 12th pct · 78th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
- 59th pct · 1,234th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 48th pct · 46th of 89 Nebraska counties · median +4.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- 9th pct · 2,910th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 63rd of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- 21st pct · 2,522nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 38th pct · 58th of 93 Nebraska counties · median $970
- 27th pct · 2,232nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 17th pct · 74th of 89 Nebraska counties · median 4.1
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 $156,826 (Aug 2026), +3.8% over one year, +26.6% over five
- 18th pct · 2,498th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 12th pct · 78th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, NE | $156,826 · +3.8% 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
- Nebraska 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 $858 a month on $156,826 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,952 a month: 21.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $156,826 × 80% = $125,461, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $858/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $912 × 52 / 12 = $3,952) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $156,826 / ($912 × 52) = 3.3
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 #
1,341 jobs at 161 employers (2026 Q1); -4.0% jobs and +4.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 9th pct · 2,910th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 32nd pct · 63rd of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, NE | 1,341 jobs · $912/wk · -4.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 209 | $1,026 | 21.58 | -19.9% |
| Retail trade | 157 | $562 | 1.20 | +2.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | 118 | $748 | 0.58 | -0.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 82 | $1,159 | 1.60 | -2.4% |
| Construction | 69 | $822 | 0.98 | -17.9% |
| Manufacturing | 50 | $888 | 0.46 | +8.7% |
| Other services | 42 | $586 | 1.05 | -10.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 20 | $905 | 0.22 | +0.0% |
| Information | 8 | $763 | 0.32 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | 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 #
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 #
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 #
$169.5 m in deposits at 3 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,717, highly concentrated. $26.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $21.6 m, grants $4.7 m), $19,644 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| West Plains Bank | $83.4 m · 49.2% share · 1 office | |
| Homestead Bank | $46.2 m · 27.2% share · 1 office | |
| Union Bank and Trust Company | $40.0 m · 23.6% share · 1 office | |
| Brown, NE | $26.3 m FY2026 · $19,644/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $17.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Plains Bank | $83,375,000 | 49.2% | 1 |
| Homestead Bank | $46,192,000 | 27.2% | 1 |
| Union Bank and Trust Company | $39,975,000 | 23.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,717 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 49.2² + 27.2² + 23.6² = 3,717
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 | $14,955,103 |
| Department of Agriculture | $7,875,635 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1,883,223 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,143,594 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $258,261 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $130,905 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $62,440 |
| Department of Education | $34,072 |
That is $19,644 per covered job, against 1,341 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $26.3 m / 1,341 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $19,644
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 #
Brown County, NE: 8 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 6 noted
alertBrown County, NE's covered employment is -4.0% 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 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBrown County, NE's covered employment is -4.0% 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 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteBrown County, NE's average weekly wage was 4.7% 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
- +4.7 % = 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
noteBrown County, NE's covered employment was 4.0% lower 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
noteBrown County, NE's typical home value rose 0.7% from $155,722 in July 2026 to $156,826 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.7% = (156825.70233406787 - 155721.74472713773) / 155721.74472713773 × 100
- 156825.70233406787 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 155721.74472713773 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 8 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.