Wayne County, NE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.21, -97.13.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 58th pct · 1,267th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 77th pct · 21st of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
- 85th pct · 452nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 79th pct · 19th of 89 Nebraska counties · median +4.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- 31st pct · 2,198th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 71st pct · 27th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- 14th pct · 2,761st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 23rd pct · 71st of 93 Nebraska counties · median $970
- 75th pct · 746th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 87th pct · 12th 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 $258,537 (Aug 2026), +6.8% over one year, +38.9% over five
- 58th pct · 1,267th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 77th pct · 21st of 89 Nebraska counties · median $218,486
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne County, NE | $258,537 · +6.8% 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 $1,415 a month on $258,537 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,766 a month: 37.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $258,537 × 80% = $206,829, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,415/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $869 × 52 / 12 = $3,766) = 38% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $258,537 / ($869 × 52) = 5.7
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 #
4,049 jobs at 286 employers (2026 Q1); -1.5% jobs and +2.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 31st pct · 2,198th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 71st pct · 27th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne County, NE | 4,049 jobs · $869/wk · -1.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 600 | $1,029 | 1.84 | -20.5% |
| Retail trade | 393 | $447 | 1.00 | -12.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 184 | $858 | 6.29 | +35.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 171 | $1,296 | 1.10 | +11.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 122 | $1,383 | 0.74 | -6.9% |
| Construction | 106 | $877 | 0.50 | +6.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 85 | $826 | 0.50 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 68 | $863 | 0.24 | +19.3% |
| Other services | 41 | $499 | 0.34 | -4.7% |
| Information | 28 | $664 | 0.38 | -26.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 16 | $646 | 0.26 | +33.3% |
| Management of companies | 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 #
D1 moderate drought
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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$478.6 m in deposits at 7 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,902, highly concentrated. $55.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $52.9 m, contracts $2.7 m), $13,799 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| State Nebraska Bank & Trust | $203.8 m · 42.6% share · 2 offices | |
| Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust | $142.9 m · 29.9% share · 1 office | |
| F&M Bank | $39.2 m · 8.2% share · 1 office | |
| Wayne, NE | $55.9 m FY2026 · $13,799/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $39.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Nebraska Bank & Trust | $203,794,000 | 42.6% | 2 |
| Elkhorn Valley Bank & Trust | $142,891,000 | 29.9% | 1 |
| F&M Bank | $39,230,000 | 8.2% | 1 |
| BankFirst | $38,165,000 | 8.0% | 1 |
| Madison County Bank | $32,636,000 | 6.8% | 1 |
| Nebraska Bank | $21,926,000 | 4.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,902 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 42.6² + 29.9² + 8.2² + … (3 more) = 2,902
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 | $36,171,914 |
| Department of Agriculture | $7,536,669 |
| Department of Education | $6,465,991 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,894,580 |
| Department of Defense | $2,737,770 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $158,196 |
| National Science Foundation | $152,791 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $8,809 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Federal Communications Commission | -$1,286 |
| Department of Justice | -$10,854 |
| Department of Transportation | -$242,015 |
That is $13,799 per covered job, against 4,049 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $55.9 m / 4,049 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $13,799
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 #
Wayne County, NE: 6 findings, 2 at a watch level and 4 noted
watchWayne County, NE's covered employment is -1.5% 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 = -1.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchWayne County, NE's covered employment of 4,049 scores 32 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 72 across Nebraska counties, a gap of 40 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 40 = |32 across US counties - 72 across Nebraska counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteWayne County, NE's average weekly wage was 2.1% 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
- +2.1 % = 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
noteWayne County, NE's covered employment was 1.5% 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
- -1.5 % = 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
noteWayne County, NE's typical home value rose 0.6% from $256,964 in July 2026 to $258,537 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (258536.64463937536 - 256964.2759103895) / 256964.2759103895 × 100
- 258536.64463937536 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 256964.2759103895 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
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.