Burke County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.75, -81.71.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 57th pct · 1,300th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 43rd pct · 57th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 37th pct · 1,926th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 61st pct · 39th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 39th pct · 841st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 24th pct · 48th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 77th pct · 728th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 67th pct · 33rd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 32nd pct · 2,183rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 34th pct · 65th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 66th pct · 1,032nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 51st pct · 49th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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 $255,974 (Aug 2026), +1.8% over one year, +28.3% over five
- 57th pct · 1,300th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 43rd pct · 57th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Burke County, NC | $255,974 · +1.8% 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 #
Typical rent $1,387/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 15.4
- 39th pct · 841st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 24th pct · 48th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Burke County, NC | $1,387/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 $1,401 a month on $255,974 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,164 a month: 33.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $255,974 × 80% = $204,779, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,401/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $961 × 52 / 12 = $4,164) = 34% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $255,974 / ($961 × 52) = 5.1
- price-to-rent = $255,974 / ($1,387 × 12) = 15.4
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 #
29,555 jobs at 1,808 employers (2026 Q1); -1.1% jobs and +0.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 77th pct · 728th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 67th pct · 33rd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Burke County, NC | 29,555 jobs · $961/wk · -1.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 6,705 | $1,052 | 2.82 | -6.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 4,643 | $1,174 | 1.04 | +0.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 3,085 | $378 | 1.16 | +7.3% |
| Retail trade | 2,927 | $666 | 1.02 | -1.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,377 | $754 | 0.82 | -2.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 817 | $1,450 | 0.72 | +1.2% |
| Other services | 582 | $773 | 0.66 | +0.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 453 | $1,129 | 0.22 | +3.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 313 | $1,527 | 0.26 | -10.6% |
| Educational services | 302 | $750 | 0.47 | +28.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 258 | $1,271 | 0.53 | +0.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 246 | $1,172 | 0.20 | +16.0% |
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.
Water #
Banks & federal dollars #
$1.0 bn in deposits at 10 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,031, highly concentrated. $591.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $573.6 m, grants $12.5 m), $20,023 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $274.9 m · 26.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $269.3 m · 25.7% share · 2 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $234.0 m · 22.3% share · 2 offices | |
| Burke, NC | $591.8 m FY2026 · $20,023/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $562.8 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $274,930,000 | 26.2% | 2 |
| Truist Bank | $269,255,000 | 25.7% | 2 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $233,968,000 | 22.3% | 2 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $99,417,000 | 9.5% | 1 |
| Morganton Savings Bank, S.S.B. | $77,658,000 | 7.4% | 1 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $46,498,000 | 4.4% | 1 |
| First Horizon Bank | $46,115,000 | 4.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,031 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 26.2² + 25.7² + 22.3² + … (4 more) = 2,031
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 | $500,429,507 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $61,554,904 |
| Department of Transportation | $5,732,412 |
| Department of Education | $5,095,346 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,042,454 |
| Department of Defense | $3,331,005 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $3,013,575 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,960,695 |
| Department of the Interior | $1,890,079 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $780,458 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $753,319 |
| Department of Justice | $468,743 |
That is $20,023 per covered job, against 29,555 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $591.8 m / 29,555 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $20,023
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 | 3.00 | 2026-10-06 | -50.0% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| 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 #
Burke County, NC: 7 findings, 2 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchBurke County, NC's covered employment is -1.1% 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 = -1.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBurke County, NC's typical asking rent rose 4.2% from $1,331 in July 2026 to $1,387 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +4.2% = (1386.9444444444443 - 1331.1383240140185) / 1331.1383240140185 × 100
- 1386.9444444444443 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1331.1383240140185 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
noteBurke County, NC's covered employment was 1.1% 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
- -1.1 % = 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
noteBurke County, NC's average weekly wage was 0.1% 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
- +0.1 % = 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
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Burke County, NC is due between 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
Read all 7 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.