Taos County, NM
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.58, -105.64.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 321st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 93rd pct · 3rd of 30 New Mexico counties · median $223,584
- 17th pct · 2,523rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 31st pct · 21st of 30 New Mexico counties · median +1.3%
- 83rd pct · 237th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 86th pct · 3rd of 16 New Mexico counties · median $1,505
- 57th pct · 1,373rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 59th pct · 14th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
- 15th pct · 2,717th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 21st pct · 26th of 33 New Mexico counties · median $968
- 96th pct · 100th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 100th pct · 1st 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 $438,441 (Aug 2026), -0.5% over one year, -5.3% over five
- 89th pct · 321st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 93rd pct · 3rd of 30 New Mexico counties · median $223,584
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Taos County, NM | $438,441 · -0.5% 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 $1,994/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 18.3
- 83rd pct · 237th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 86th pct · 3rd of 16 New Mexico counties · median $1,505
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Taos County, NM | $1,994/mo · n/a 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 $2,400 a month on $438,441 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,809 a month: 63.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $438,441 × 80% = $350,752, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,400/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $879 × 52 / 12 = $3,809) = 63% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $438,441 / ($879 × 52) = 9.6
- price-to-rent = $438,441 / ($1,994 × 12) = 18.3
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 #
11,205 jobs at 1,410 employers (2026 Q1); -1.8% jobs and +3.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 57th pct · 1,373rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 59th pct · 14th of 33 New Mexico counties · median 8,227
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Taos County, NM | 11,205 jobs · $879/wk · -1.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 1,843 | $538 | 1.83 | -6.2% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,743 | $1,075 | 1.03 | -0.7% |
| Retail trade | 1,620 | $681 | 1.48 | -1.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 1,224 | $652 | 6.64 | +0.9% |
| Construction | 442 | $992 | 0.75 | -16.8% |
| Educational services | 318 | $1,056 | 1.32 | +15.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 280 | $1,451 | 0.36 | -7.3% |
| Other services | 276 | $844 | 0.82 | +1.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 266 | $1,063 | 0.42 | -20.6% |
| Real estate and rental | 214 | $746 | 1.25 | -0.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 191 | $1,049 | 0.42 | -1.5% |
| Utilities | 159 | $1,292 | 3.59 | +5.3% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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 #
7 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 7, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EAGLE NEST LAKE NR EAGLE NEST, NM | 20,970 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 37 km |
| COSTILLA RESERVOIR NEAR COSTILLA, NM | 1,038 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 46 km |
| NAMBE FALLS RESERVOIR NEAR NAMBE, NM | 1,652 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 85 km |
| MCCLURE RESERVOIR NEAR SANTA FE N MEX | 1,211 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 101 km |
| NICHOLS RESERVOIR NEAR SANTA FE N MEX | 541.7 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 101 km |
| TRINIDAD LAKE NEAR TRINIDAD, CO. | 20,180 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 115 km |
| LAKE MALOYA NR RATON NM | 3,484 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 121 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 #
42 gauges · 0 flooding · 5 with quality panels averaging 90 % · 10 stale
Sites found: 42, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| RIO CHAMA NEAR CHAMITA, NM | flow 487.0 ft³/s · quality 50 % (2) | 70 km |
| RIO GRANDE NEAR ARROYO HONDO, NM | flow 178.0 ft³/s · STALE | 8 km |
| RIO HONDO NEAR VALDEZ, NM | flow 18.9 ft³/s | 8 km |
| RED RIVER BELOW FISH HATCHERY, NEAR QUESTA, NM | flow 61.7 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) | 12 km |
| RIO LUCERO NEAR ARROYO SECO, NM | flow 17.5 ft³/s | 12 km |
| RED RIVER NEAR QUESTA, NM | flow 36.7 ft³/s | 15 km |
| RIO GRANDE NEAR CERRO, NM | flow 120.0 ft³/s | 19 km |
| CABRESTO CREEK NEAR QUESTA, NM | flow 4.60 ft³/s · STALE | 19 km |
| RIO PUEBLO DE TAOS NEAR TAOS, NM | flow 10.9 ft³/s | 19 km |
| RIO PUEBLO DE TAOS BELOW LOS CORDOVAS, NM | flow 67.0 ft³/s | 22 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 #
2 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 2, 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-364228105264301 | depth 102.3 ft · 2026-10-05 | 23 km |
| USGS-365204105365501 | depth 4.87 ft · 2025-09-22 | 32 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 #
high (0.51)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 + 0.2×0.10 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$768.6 m in deposits at 6 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,790, highly concentrated. $310.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $250.0 m, grants $31.2 m), $27,745 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Centinel Bank of Taos | $387.6 m · 50.4% share · 2 offices | |
| NBH Bank | $213.9 m · 27.8% share · 3 offices | |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $167.2 m · 21.8% share · 1 office | |
| Taos, NM | $310.9 m FY2026 · $27,745/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $238.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centinel Bank of Taos | $387,562,000 | 50.4% | 2 |
| NBH Bank | $213,886,000 | 27.8% | 3 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $167,189,000 | 21.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,790 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 = 50.4² + 27.8² + 21.8² = 3,790
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 | $212,464,091 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $27,253,806 |
| Department of Transportation | $24,085,515 |
| Department of Agriculture | $19,404,584 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $8,644,257 |
| Department of the Interior | $8,566,953 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $7,625,315 |
| Department of Education | $1,815,613 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $697,853 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $486,910 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $372,826 |
| Department of Energy | $38,624 |
That is $27,745 per covered job, against 11,205 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $310.9 m / 11,205 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $27,745
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 #
Taos County, NM: 11 findings, 4 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchTaos County, NM's years of wages of 9.6 ranks 100th 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 = 96.76681907250163 >= 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
watchTaos County, NM's covered employment is -1.8% 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 = -1.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchTaos County, NM's typical asking rent is -2.3% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; 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.momPct = -2.339420531178884 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchTaos County, NM's typical home value is -0.5% 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 = -0.4803505329912804 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteTaos County, NM's average weekly wage was 3.5% 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
- +3.5 % = 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
Read all 11 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.