Lenoir County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.24, -77.64.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 16th pct · 2,547th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 12th pct · 88th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- 82nd pct · 547th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 93rd pct · 7th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- 25th pct · 1,046th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 16th pct · 53rd of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- 77th pct · 724th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 68th pct · 32nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- 40th pct · 1,898th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 54th pct · 46th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- 18th pct · 2,501st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 10th pct · 90th 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 $152,711 (Aug 2026), +6.3% over one year, +45.0% over five
- 16th pct · 2,547th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 12th pct · 88th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lenoir County, NC | $152,711 · +6.3% 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 $1,238/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 10.3
- 25th pct · 1,046th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 16th pct · 53rd of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lenoir County, NC | $1,238/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 $836 a month on $152,711 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,329 a month: 19.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $152,711 × 80% = $122,169, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $836/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $999 × 52 / 12 = $4,329) = 19% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $152,711 / ($999 × 52) = 2.9
- price-to-rent = $152,711 / ($1,238 × 12) = 10.3
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 #
29,829 jobs at 1,372 employers (2026 Q1); +1.8% jobs and +0.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 77th pct · 724th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 68th pct · 32nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lenoir County, NC | 29,829 jobs · $999/wk · +1.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 8,277 | $1,139 | 3.45 | +2.1% |
| Health care and social assistance | 2,908 | $846 | 0.65 | +4.9% |
| Retail trade | 2,509 | $633 | 0.86 | +2.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,827 | $373 | 0.68 | -5.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,625 | $1,497 | 1.29 | -1.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,322 | $648 | 0.78 | +5.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 998 | $1,075 | 0.87 | +34.5% |
| Other services | 537 | $769 | 0.60 | -2.7% |
| Real estate and rental | 488 | $1,202 | 1.07 | +15.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 428 | $1,246 | 0.21 | -9.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 347 | $1,372 | 0.29 | -6.7% |
| Management of companies | 292 | $1,601 | 0.58 | -4.6% |
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 #
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 #
high (0.75)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$918.8 m in deposits at 11 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,060, highly concentrated. $443.4 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $421.0 m, grants $20.9 m), $14,865 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $296.6 m · 32.3% share · 2 offices | |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $202.5 m · 22.0% share · 2 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $160.1 m · 17.4% share · 2 offices | |
| Lenoir, NC | $443.4 m FY2026 · $14,865/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $296,625,000 | 32.3% | 2 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $202,465,000 | 22.0% | 2 |
| Truist Bank | $160,075,000 | 17.4% | 2 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $99,627,000 | 10.8% | 1 |
| Southern Bank and Trust Company | $76,611,000 | 8.3% | 2 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $44,584,000 | 4.9% | 1 |
| United Bank | $38,809,000 | 4.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,060 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 = 32.3² + 22.0² + 17.4² + … (4 more) = 2,060
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 #
That is $14,865 per covered job, against 29,829 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $443.4 m / 29,829 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $14,865
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 #
Lenoir County, NC: 7 findings, 7 noted
noteLenoir County, NC's covered employment was 1.8% 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
- +1.8 % = 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
noteLenoir County, NC's average weekly wage was 0.7% 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
- +0.7 % = 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
noteLenoir County, NC's price-to-rent ratio of 10.3 ranks 62nd of 63 North Carolina counties, against a median of 16.5.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 2 on the 0-to-100 scale across 63 North Carolina counties that published priceToRent
- 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
noteLenoir County, NC's price-to-rent ratio of 10.3 ranks 1,369th of 1,399 US counties, against a median of 17.2.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 2 on the 0-to-100 scale across 1399 US counties that published priceToRent
- 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
noteLenoir County, NC's typical home value of +6.3% ranks 7th of 100 North Carolina counties, against a median of +1.1%.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 94 on the 0-to-100 scale across 100 North Carolina counties that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.