Martin County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.85, -77.12.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 8th pct · 2,799th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 5th pct · 95th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- 72nd pct · 840th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 85th pct · 15th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- North Carolina counties: not published this period
- 42nd pct · 1,839th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 21st pct · 79th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- 5th pct · 3,050th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 1st pct · 99th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- 23rd pct · 2,339th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 14th pct · 86th 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 $128,591 (Aug 2026), +5.0% over one year, +7.0% over five
- 8th pct · 2,799th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 5th pct · 95th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Martin County, NC | $128,591 · +5.0% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- North Carolina counties: not published this period
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 $704 a month on $128,591 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,406 a month: 20.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $128,591 × 80% = $102,873, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $704/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $786 × 52 / 12 = $3,406) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $128,591 / ($786 × 52) = 3.1
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 #
6,188 jobs at 492 employers (2026 Q1); +0.5% jobs and +5.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 42nd pct · 1,839th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 21st pct · 79th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Martin County, NC | 6,188 jobs · $786/wk · +0.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 954 | $588 | 1.58 | -5.6% |
| Manufacturing | 706 | $1,001 | 1.42 | -4.7% |
| Construction | 290 | $1,132 | 0.89 | +25.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 253 | $922 | 5.66 | -2.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 176 | $1,123 | 0.41 | -1.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 127 | $2,028 | 0.50 | +1.6% |
| Other services | 114 | $770 | 0.62 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 110 | $1,045 | 0.46 | -15.4% |
| Information | 50 | $2,052 | 0.44 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 31 | $706 | 0.33 | -6.1% |
| Unclassified | 0 | $0 | 0.00 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | withheld |
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 #
$400.9 m in deposits at 6 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,530, highly concentrated. $179.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $169.5 m, grants $9.3 m), $28,919 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $150.2 m · 37.5% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $115.5 m · 28.8% share · 1 office | |
| Southern Bank and Trust Company | $42.6 m · 10.6% share · 1 office | |
| Martin, NC | $179.0 m FY2026 · $28,919/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $161.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $150,187,000 | 37.5% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $115,513,000 | 28.8% | 1 |
| Southern Bank and Trust Company | $42,649,000 | 10.6% | 1 |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $36,665,000 | 9.1% | 1 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $32,306,000 | 8.1% | 1 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $23,546,000 | 5.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,530 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 37.5² + 28.8² + 10.6² + … (3 more) = 2,530
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 | $141,709,385 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $19,062,505 |
| Department of Transportation | $7,320,694 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,603,011 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $3,087,762 |
| Department of Education | $1,397,669 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $380,707 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $200,000 |
| U.S. Agency for Global Media | $175,812 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $14,577 |
That is $28,919 per covered job, against 6,188 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $179.0 m / 6,188 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,919
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 | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| 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 #
Martin County, NC: 8 findings, 8 noted
noteMartin County, NC's average weekly wage was 5.2% 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
- +5.2 % = 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
noteMartin County, NC's typical home value rose 0.6% from $127,778 in July 2026 to $128,591 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (128590.8018046043 - 127777.53333374404) / 127777.53333374404 × 100
- 128590.8018046043 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 127777.53333374404 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteMartin County, NC's covered employment 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
noteMartin County, NC's average weekly wage of $786 ranks 99th of 100 North Carolina counties, against a median of $984.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 1 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
noteMartin County, NC's typical home value of $128,591 ranks 95th of 100 North Carolina counties, against a median of $273,108.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 5 on the 0-to-100 scale across 100 North Carolina counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 8 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.