Cape May County, NJ
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.09, -74.85.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 98th pct · 41st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 100th pct · 1st of 21 New Jersey counties · median $588,036
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 94th pct · 166th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 100th pct · 1st of 21 New Jersey counties · median +3.2%
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 81st pct · 263rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 10th pct · 19th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,286
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 79th pct · 667th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 19th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 47th pct · 1,689th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 0th pct · 21st of 21 New Jersey counties · median $1,446
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 19th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 100th pct · 1st of 21 New Jersey counties · median 6.2
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $806,250 (Aug 2026), +9.3% over one year, +38.4% over five
- 98th pct · 41st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 100th pct · 1st of 21 New Jersey counties · median $588,036
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cape May County, NJ | $806,250 · +9.3% 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 $1,952/mo (Aug 2026), +10.9% over one year; price-to-rent 34.4
- 81st pct · 263rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 10th pct · 19th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,286
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cape May County, NJ | $1,952/mo · +10.9% 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 $4,413 a month on $806,250 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,455 a month: 99.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $806,250 × 80% = $645,000, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $4,413/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,028 × 52 / 12 = $4,455) = 99% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $806,250 / ($1,028 × 52) = 15.1
- price-to-rent = $806,250 / ($1,952 × 12) = 34.4
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 #
34,680 jobs at 4,160 employers (2026 Q1); -0.6% jobs and +2.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 79th pct · 667th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 19th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Atlantic City-Hammonton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cape May County, NJ | 34,680 jobs · $1,028/wk · -0.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 6,223 | $598 | 2.00 | -0.5% |
| Retail trade | 5,549 | $724 | 1.64 | -0.7% |
| Health care and social assistance | 4,457 | $1,158 | 0.85 | -1.7% |
| Construction | 2,536 | $1,157 | 1.39 | +0.2% |
| Other services | 1,353 | $703 | 1.31 | +1.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,223 | $812 | 0.62 | +11.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 933 | $1,391 | 0.39 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 929 | $880 | 1.63 | -5.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 716 | $2,024 | 0.51 | -4.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 618 | $1,014 | 1.16 | -4.6% |
| Educational services | 124 | $412 | 0.17 | +5.1% |
| Management of companies | 122 | $1,733 | 0.21 | +0.0% |
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 #
$4.1 bn in deposits at 40 offices of 11 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,566, moderately concentrated. $1.4 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $831.2 m, contracts $507.1 m), $39,144 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sturdy Savings Bank | $975.6 m · 23.9% share · 12 offices | |
| TD Bank, National Association | $815.2 m · 20.0% share · 4 offices | |
| OceanFirst Bank, National Association | $630.7 m · 15.4% share · 3 offices | |
| Cape May, NJ | $1.4 bn FY2026 · $39,144/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sturdy Savings Bank | $975,568,000 | 23.9% | 12 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $815,232,000 | 20.0% | 4 |
| OceanFirst Bank, National Association | $630,678,000 | 15.4% | 3 |
| Crest Savings Bank | $516,852,000 | 12.6% | 8 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $441,160,000 | 10.8% | 4 |
| 1st Bank of Sea Isle City | $251,202,000 | 6.1% | 3 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $247,337,000 | 6.1% | 2 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $98,384,000 | 2.4% | 1 |
| Univest Bank and Trust Co. | $68,250,000 | 1.7% | 1 |
| Franklin Bank | $27,176,000 | 0.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,566 across 11 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 11 banks with deposits in the county = 23.9² + 20.0² + 15.4² + … (8 more) = 1,566
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 $39,144 per covered job, against 34,680 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.4 bn / 34,680 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $39,144
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 #
Cape May County, NJ: 23 findings, 9 at a watch level and 14 noted
watchCape May County, NJ's price-to-rent ratio of 34.4 ranks 6th of 1,399 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 99.64234620886981 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchCape May County, NJ's price-to-rent ratio is 34.4, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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: priceToRent = 34.41758652306842 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCape May County, NJ's years of wages of 15.1 ranks 19th 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 = 99.41214892227302 >= 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
watchCape May County, NJ's years of wages is 15.1, a watch level here: typical home value worth 10 or more years of one average covered wage (typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; 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: yearsOfWages = 15.082489039953874 >= 10
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCape May County, NJ's typical asking rent is +10.9% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 8 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; 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.yoyPct = 10.92957042654484 >= 8
arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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.