Kearney County, NE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.51, -98.95.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 57th pct · 1,304th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 75th pct · 23rd of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
- 79th pct · 631st of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 71st pct · 26th of 89 Nebraska counties · median +4.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- 16th pct · 2,687th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 48th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- 40th pct · 1,898th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 57th pct · 40th of 93 Nebraska counties · median $970
- 63rd pct · 1,122nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 72nd pct · 25th 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 $255,799 (Aug 2026), +5.9% over one year, +30.7% over five
- 57th pct · 1,304th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 75th pct · 23rd of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kearney County, NE | $255,799 · +5.9% 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 $1,400 a month on $255,799 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,329 a month: 32.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $255,799 × 80% = $204,639, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,400/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $999 × 52 / 12 = $4,329) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $255,799 / ($999 × 52) = 4.9
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 #
2,056 jobs at 217 employers (2026 Q1); +3.4% jobs and +5.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 16th pct · 2,687th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 48th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kearney County, NE | 2,056 jobs · $999/wk · +3.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 399 | $1,301 | 2.41 | +22.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 127 | $1,394 | 1.61 | -4.5% |
| Retail trade | 121 | $671 | 0.60 | -7.6% |
| Construction | 92 | $822 | 0.85 | +13.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 75 | $1,140 | 0.90 | +5.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 71 | $302 | 0.38 | -9.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 35 | $305 | 1.03 | +16.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 28 | $743 | 0.20 | +33.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 5 | $598 | 0.16 | -16.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | 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 #
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Harlan County Lake Near Republican City, Nebr. | 169,900 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 54 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 #
41 gauges · 0 flooding · 2 with quality panels averaging 92 % · 12 stale
Sites found: 41, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| DOWNSTREAM DRAIN NR NEWARK, NE | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 15 km |
| FORT KEARNEY SLOUGH NR NEWARK, NE | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 15 km |
| Turkey Creek near Kearney | no flooding | 19 km |
| Platte River near Kearney, Nebr. | flow 868.0 ft³/s | 20 km |
| Platte River near Kearney | no flooding | 21 km |
| Platte River near Shelton | no flooding | 29 km |
| Platte River near Odessa | no flooding | 31 km |
| WOOD RIVER NEAR GIBBON, NE | flow 3.80 ft³/s · observation not current · STALE | 32 km |
| Wood River near Riverdale | out of service | 38 km |
| Little Blue River above Ayr | no flooding | 41 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 #
25 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 25, 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-402625098594501 | depth 101.0 ft · 1994-08-02 | 9 km |
| USGS-401735098522701 | depth 174.1 ft · 2001-03-13 | 25 km |
| USGS-404618098504401 | depth 24.2 ft · 2026-10-05 | 30 km |
| USGS-403954099152101 | depth 10.5 ft · 2026-10-05 | 31 km |
| USGS-403217099235801 | depth 18.7 ft · 1994-08-08 | 38 km |
| USGS-401857099195201 | depth 179.3 ft · 2001-03-12 | 39 km |
| USGS-405137099085201 | depth 140.2 ft · 2026-10-05 | 42 km |
| USGS-405129099090201 | depth 140.0 ft · 2026-10-05 | 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 (0.03)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.08 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$265.0 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,881, highly concentrated. $44.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $44.4 m, contracts $643,475), $21,725 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Minden Exchange Bank & Trust Company | $146.5 m · 55.3% share · 1 office | |
| First Bank and Trust Company | $66.3 m · 25.0% share · 1 office | |
| Cornerstone Bank | $30.4 m · 11.5% share · 1 office | |
| Kearney, NE | $44.7 m FY2026 · $21,725/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $33.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minden Exchange Bank & Trust Company | $146,477,000 | 55.3% | 1 |
| First Bank and Trust Company | $66,311,000 | 25.0% | 1 |
| Cornerstone Bank | $30,444,000 | 11.5% | 1 |
| First State Bank | $21,774,000 | 8.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,881 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 = 55.3² + 25.0² + 11.5² + … (1 more) = 3,881
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 | $29,550,654 |
| Department of Agriculture | $10,565,463 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $3,838,887 |
| Department of Defense | $643,475 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $337,352 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $144,426 |
| Department of Education | $75,891 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $55,782 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of Transportation | -$545,494 |
That is $21,725 per covered job, against 2,056 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $44.7 m / 2,056 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,725
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 #
Kearney County, NE: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchKearney County, NE's covered employment of 2,056 scores 17 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 49 across Nebraska counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |17 across US counties - 49 across Nebraska counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteKearney County, NE's average weekly wage was 5.4% 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
- +5.4 % = 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
noteKearney County, NE's covered employment was 3.4% 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
- +3.4 % = 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
noteKearney County, NE's momentum index of 0.83 ranks 66th of 3,221 US counties, against a median of 0.23.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published momentum
- 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%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteKearney County, NE's momentum index of 0.83 ranks 5th of 93 Nebraska counties, against a median of 0.25.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 96 on the 0-to-100 scale across 93 Nebraska counties that published momentum
- 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%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 6 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.