Otero County, NM
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 32.62, -105.75.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 49th pct · 1,544th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 55th pct · 14th of 30 New Mexico counties · median $223,584
- 9th pct · 2,783rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 20th pct · 24th of 30 New Mexico counties · median +1.3%
- 54th pct · 643rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 53rd pct · 8th of 16 New Mexico counties · median $1,505
- 68th pct · 1,023rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 62nd pct · 13th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
- 44th pct · 1,796th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 59th pct · 14th of 33 New Mexico counties · median $968
- 53rd pct · 1,427th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 51st pct · 15th of 30 New Mexico counties · median 4.2
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 $233,516 (Aug 2026), -2.3% over one year, +34.3% over five
- 49th pct · 1,544th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 55th pct · 14th of 30 New Mexico counties · median $223,584
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Otero County, NM | $233,516 · -2.3% 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 $1,542/mo (Aug 2026), +4.6% over one year; price-to-rent 12.6
- 54th pct · 643rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 53rd pct · 8th of 16 New Mexico counties · median $1,505
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Otero County, NM | $1,542/mo · +4.6% 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 $1,278 a month on $233,516 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,394 a month: 29.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $233,516 × 80% = $186,813, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,278/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,014 × 52 / 12 = $4,394) = 29% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $233,516 / ($1,014 × 52) = 4.4
- price-to-rent = $233,516 / ($1,542 × 12) = 12.6
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 #
17,380 jobs at 1,314 employers (2026 Q1); -0.8% jobs and +4.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 68th pct · 1,023rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 62nd pct · 13th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Otero County, NM | 17,380 jobs · $1,014/wk · -0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 3,268 | $1,019 | 1.25 | +8.8% |
| Retail trade | 2,248 | $624 | 1.33 | -1.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,511 | $452 | 0.97 | +3.6% |
| Construction | 930 | $1,054 | 1.02 | -6.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 913 | $1,067 | 0.92 | -0.2% |
| Other services | 343 | $807 | 0.66 | -0.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 324 | $1,145 | 0.46 | -4.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 309 | $1,380 | 0.42 | +2.7% |
| Educational services | 251 | $1,648 | 0.67 | -3.1% |
| Real estate and rental | 193 | $758 | 0.72 | +4.3% |
| Information | 184 | $1,331 | 0.57 | -6.1% |
| Utilities | 123 | $1,634 | 1.79 | +0.8% |
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 #
4 % of conservation capacity, weighted over 1 TWDB reservoirs
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Elephant Butte Lake | 4 % full · 1,986k ac-ft | 147 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 #
4 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 1 stale
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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| LOST RIVER NEAR HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NM | flow 0.03 ft³/s · STALE | 47 km |
| TULAROSA CREEK NEAR BENT, NM | flow 9.58 ft³/s | 60 km |
| RIO PENASCO NEAR DUNKEN, NM | flow 4.73 ft³/s | 61 km |
| RIO PENASCO NEAR HOPE, NM | flow 2.24 ft³/s | 68 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 #
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 #
high (0.58)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 + 0.3×0.96 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$772.2 m in deposits at 12 offices of 8 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,357, highly concentrated. $690.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $432.4 m, contracts $226.4 m), $39,732 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First National Bank | $312.7 m · 40.5% share · 4 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $144.9 m · 18.8% share · 1 office | |
| Southwest Heritage Bank | $96.3 m · 12.5% share · 1 office | |
| Otero, NM | $690.5 m FY2026 · $39,732/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $403.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First National Bank | $312,730,000 | 40.5% | 4 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $144,873,000 | 18.8% | 1 |
| Southwest Heritage Bank | $96,297,000 | 12.5% | 1 |
| First Savings Bank | $75,586,000 | 9.8% | 2 |
| Pioneer Bank | $59,705,000 | 7.7% | 1 |
| First American Bank | $46,675,000 | 6.0% | 1 |
| WaFd Bank | $31,670,000 | 4.1% | 1 |
| First National Bank Texas | $4,629,000 | 0.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,357 across 8 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 8 banks with deposits in the county = 40.5² + 18.8² + 12.5² + … (5 more) = 2,357
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 | $302,341,210 |
| Department of Defense | $141,985,576 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $103,389,840 |
| General Services Administration | $36,249,426 |
| Department of the Interior | $29,761,447 |
| Department of Agriculture | $26,580,839 |
| Department of Transportation | $16,437,362 |
| National Science Foundation | $15,504,940 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $9,494,216 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $3,439,403 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $2,278,408 |
| Department of Education | $1,910,806 |
That is $39,732 per covered job, against 17,380 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $690.5 m / 17,380 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $39,732
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 #
Otero County, NM: 10 findings, 3 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchOtero County, NM's typical home value is -2.3% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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: home.yoyPct = -2.334830549340696 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchOtero County, NM's covered employment is -0.8% 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 = -0.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchOtero County, NM's price-to-rent ratio of 12.6 scores 9 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 40 across New Mexico counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |9 across US counties - 40 across New Mexico 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
noteOtero County, NM's average weekly wage was 4.2% 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
- +4.2 % = 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
noteOtero County, NM's typical asking rent rose 1.9% from $1,514 in July 2026 to $1,542 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +1.9% = (1541.875 - 1513.6743760109457) / 1513.6743760109457 × 100
- 1541.875 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1513.6743760109457 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
Read all 10 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.