Madison County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.86, -82.71.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 84th pct · 478th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 79th pct · 21st of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 19th pct · 2,476th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 20th pct · 80th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 58th pct · 585th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 53rd pct · 30th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 33rd pct · 2,137th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 13th pct · 87th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 21st pct · 2,531st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 17th pct · 82nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 93rd pct · 200th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 91st pct · 9th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville 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 $387,897 (Aug 2026), -0.2% over one year, +19.3% over five
- 84th pct · 478th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 79th pct · 21st of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Madison County, NC | $387,897 · -0.2% 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 $1,600/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 20.2
- 58th pct · 585th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 53rd pct · 30th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Madison County, NC | $1,600/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 $2,123 a month on $387,897 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,948 a month: 53.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $387,897 × 80% = $310,318, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,123/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $911 × 52 / 12 = $3,948) = 54% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $387,897 / ($911 × 52) = 8.2
- price-to-rent = $387,897 / ($1,600 × 12) = 20.2
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 #
4,368 jobs at 590 employers (2026 Q1); +4.9% jobs and -1.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 33rd pct · 2,137th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 13th pct · 87th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Asheville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Asheville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Madison County, NC | 4,368 jobs · $911/wk · +4.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 534 | $465 | 1.25 | +2.9% |
| Manufacturing | 496 | $1,230 | 1.41 | +0.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 404 | $479 | 1.03 | +33.8% |
| Construction | 387 | $1,005 | 1.69 | +16.6% |
| Other services | 139 | $780 | 1.06 | +12.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 99 | $670 | 0.40 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 84 | $1,511 | 0.50 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 60 | $672 | 0.83 | -15.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 43 | $1,372 | 0.24 | -8.5% |
| Information | 34 | $2,647 | 0.42 | -22.7% |
| Real estate and rental | 12 | $787 | 0.18 | -36.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 10 | $461 | 0.32 | -41.2% |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$175.7 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,636, highly concentrated. $112.1 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $154.5 m, contracts $5.2 m), $25,668 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $119.2 m · 67.8% share · 1 office | |
| First Bank | $56.5 m · 32.2% share · 1 office | |
| Madison, NC | $112.1 m FY2026 · $25,668/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $149.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $119,220,000 | 67.8% | 1 |
| First Bank | $56,529,000 | 32.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,636 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 67.8² + 32.2² = 5,636
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 | $132,506,181 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $15,234,341 |
| Department of Agriculture | $7,898,261 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,731,762 |
| Department of Education | $2,593,360 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,575,720 |
| General Services Administration | $87,591 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $2,535 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $0 |
| Department of Justice | $0 |
| Department of Energy | $0 |
| Small Business Administration | -$11,368 |
That is $25,668 per covered job, against 4,368 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $112.1 m / 4,368 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,668
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 #
Madison County, NC: 12 findings, 3 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchMadison County, NC's years of wages of 8.2 ranks 200th 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 = 93.50097975179621 >= 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
watchMadison County, NC's average weekly wage is -1.2% 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 = -1.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchMadison County, NC's typical home value is -0.2% 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 = -0.22743339127737125 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteMadison County, NC's covered employment was 4.9% 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
- +4.9 % = 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
noteMadison County, NC's average weekly wage was 1.2% 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
- -1.2 % = 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.