Orleans County, NY

Home values #

Typical home $208,180 (Aug 2026), +8.2% over one year, +33.6% over five

• 39th pct · 1,846th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
• 18th pct · 51st of 62 New York counties · median $256,722
• 0th pct · 5th of 5 counties in the Rochester metro · median $256,174

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 $775/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 22.4

• 0th pct · 1,389th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
• 0th pct · 49th of 49 New York counties · median $1,531
• 0th pct · 5th of 5 counties in the Rochester metro · median $1,531

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 $1,140 a month on $208,180 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,083 a month: 22.4% of one job’s pay.

• payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $208,180 × 80% = $166,544, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,140/mo principal and interest
• wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,173 × 52 / 12 = $5,083) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
• years of wages = $208,180 / ($1,173 × 52) = 3.4
• price-to-rent = $208,180 / ($775 × 12) = 22.4

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 #

11,375 jobs at 837 employers (2026 Q1); +2.6% jobs and -3.3% average weekly wage over the year

• 57th pct · 1,358th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
• 9th pct · 56th of 62 New York counties · median 32,139
• 0th pct · 5th of 5 counties in the Rochester metro · median 28,308

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 #

No reservoir gauges within 150 km (or the camera is above the gauge altitude)

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 #

49 gauges · 0 flooding · 13 with quality panels averaging 96 % · 16 stale

Sites found: 49, 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 #

14 wells in 0 named aquifers:

Sites found: 14, 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 (0.01)

Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.04 / 0.55

Banks & federal dollars #

$420.6 m in deposits at 7 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,010, highly concentrated. $14.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $8.7 m, grants $5.9 m), $1,286 per covered job

Deposit concentration is 3,010 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 = 41.0² + 25.7² + 24.2² + … (1 more) = 3,010

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 $1,286 per covered job, against 11,375 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.

per job = FY2026 obligations $14.6 m / 11,375 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $1,286

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.

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 #

Orleans County, NY: 21 findings, 3 at a watch level and 18 noted

1. watchOrleans County, NY's average weekly wage is -3.3% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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 Q1.
   Show the arithmetic

   • test: jobs.yoy.avgWeeklyWage = -3.3 < 0

   BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level

2. watchOrleans County, NY's covered employment of 11,375 scores 58 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 10 across New York counties, a gap of 48 points.

   Period 2026 Q1.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 48 = |58 across US counties - 10 across New York counties|

   position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

3. watchOrleans County, NY's average weekly wage of $1,173 scores 73 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 34 across New York counties, a gap of 39 points.

   Period 2026 Q1.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 39 = |73 across US counties - 34 across New York counties|

   position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

4. noteOrleans County, NY's average weekly wage was 3.3% 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

   • -3.3 % = 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

5. noteOrleans County, NY's covered employment was 2.6% 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

   • +2.6 % = 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 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.