Lee County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.48, -79.17.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 66th pct · 1,012th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 58th pct · 42nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- 21st pct · 2,397th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 28th pct · 72nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- 69th pct · 431st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 74th pct · 17th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- 76th pct · 754th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 64th pct · 36th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- 82nd pct · 559th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 90th pct · 10th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- 51st pct · 1,475th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 36th pct · 64th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
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 $289,309 (Aug 2026), +0.1% over one year, +36.1% over five
- 66th pct · 1,012th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 58th pct · 42nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, NC | $289,309 · +0.1% 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 $1,741/mo (Aug 2026), +0.8% over one year; price-to-rent 13.9
- 69th pct · 431st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 74th pct · 17th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, NC | $1,741/mo · +0.8% 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 $1,584 a month on $289,309 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,516 a month: 28.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $289,309 × 80% = $231,447, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,584/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,273 × 52 / 12 = $5,516) = 29% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $289,309 / ($1,273 × 52) = 4.4
- price-to-rent = $289,309 / ($1,741 × 12) = 13.9
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 #
27,959 jobs at 1,803 employers (2026 Q1); +1.9% jobs and +0.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 76th pct · 754th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 64th pct · 36th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lee County, NC | 27,959 jobs · $1,273/wk · +1.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 8,912 | $1,959 | 3.96 | +3.4% |
| Retail trade | 3,304 | $733 | 1.21 | +0.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | 2,797 | $955 | 0.66 | +3.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,404 | $392 | 0.96 | +9.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,393 | $1,016 | 0.88 | -11.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,082 | $1,440 | 1.01 | -9.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 549 | $1,425 | 0.28 | +4.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 508 | $1,157 | 0.43 | +1.4% |
| Other services | 496 | $786 | 0.59 | -2.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 321 | $1,917 | 0.28 | -3.6% |
| Educational services | 302 | $794 | 0.50 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 282 | $463 | 0.61 | +14.2% |
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 #
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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$1.3 bn in deposits at 14 offices of 10 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,751, moderately concentrated. $545.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $526.6 m, grants $13.4 m), $19,504 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Bank | $392.1 m · 29.3% share · 3 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $301.2 m · 22.5% share · 2 offices | |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $181.9 m · 13.6% share · 2 offices | |
| Lee, NC | $545.3 m FY2026 · $19,504/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $507.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Bank | $392,127,000 | 29.3% | 3 |
| Truist Bank | $301,212,000 | 22.5% | 2 |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $181,889,000 | 13.6% | 2 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $101,363,000 | 7.6% | 1 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $93,099,000 | 6.9% | 1 |
| First Horizon Bank | $80,621,000 | 6.0% | 1 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $64,863,000 | 4.8% | 1 |
| TowneBank | $60,499,000 | 4.5% | 1 |
| The Fidelity Bank | $58,844,000 | 4.4% | 1 |
| Woodforest National Bank | $5,364,000 | 0.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,751 across 10 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 10 banks with deposits in the county = 29.3² + 22.5² + 13.6² + … (7 more) = 1,751
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 | $337,081,287 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $169,187,833 |
| Department of Education | $13,078,862 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $9,976,092 |
| National Science Foundation | $6,303,334 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,726,923 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $2,399,090 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,174,762 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,141,067 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,050,615 |
| Department of the Interior | $133,180 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $43,980 |
That is $19,504 per covered job, against 27,959 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $545.3 m / 27,959 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $19,504
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 #
Lee County, NC: 6 findings, 6 noted
noteLee County, NC's covered employment was 1.9% 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
- +1.9 % = 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
noteLee County, NC's typical asking rent rose 0.6% from $1,731 in July 2026 to $1,741 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (1740.662433862434 - 1731.1275061215895) / 1731.1275061215895 × 100
- 1740.662433862434 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1731.1275061215895 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
noteLee County, NC's average weekly wage was 0.5% 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
- +0.5 % = 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
noteLee County, NC's average weekly wage of $1,273 ranks 10th of 100 North Carolina counties, against a median of $984.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 91 on the 0-to-100 scale across 100 North Carolina counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Lee 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 6 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.