Pender County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.51, -77.89.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 322nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 87th pct · 13th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 22nd pct · 2,366th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 31st pct · 69th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 83rd pct · 236th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 91st pct · 6th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 66th pct · 1,076th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 52nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 39th pct · 1,945th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 51st pct · 49th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 94th pct · 179th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 92nd pct · 8th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington 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 $437,413 (Aug 2026), +0.3% over one year, +25.1% over five
- 89th pct · 322nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 87th pct · 13th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $273,108
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pender County, NC | $437,413 · +0.3% 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 $1,999/mo (Aug 2026), +8.6% over one year; price-to-rent 18.2
- 83rd pct · 236th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 91st pct · 6th of 63 North Carolina counties · median $1,573
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pender County, NC | $1,999/mo · +8.6% 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 $2,394 a month on $437,413 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,303 a month: 55.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $437,413 × 80% = $349,930, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,394/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $993 × 52 / 12 = $4,303) = 56% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $437,413 / ($993 × 52) = 8.5
- price-to-rent = $437,413 / ($1,999 × 12) = 18.2
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 #
16,155 jobs at 2,171 employers (2026 Q1); +2.9% jobs and +2.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 66th pct · 1,076th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 52nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- counties in the Wilmington metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Wilmington metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pender County, NC | 16,155 jobs · $993/wk · +2.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 2,171 | $606 | 1.38 | -2.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,055 | $373 | 1.42 | +6.8% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,712 | $970 | 0.70 | -0.2% |
| Construction | 1,320 | $1,157 | 1.56 | -4.3% |
| Manufacturing | 1,198 | $1,196 | 0.92 | +0.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 774 | $1,518 | 0.69 | +1.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 697 | $1,120 | 1.13 | -2.2% |
| Other services | 593 | $809 | 1.23 | +12.1% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 504 | $337 | 1.90 | +63.1% |
| Real estate and rental | 433 | $1,453 | 1.75 | +2.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 358 | $759 | 3.07 | -4.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 256 | $2,026 | 0.39 | +9.9% |
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 #
$620.5 m in deposits at 6 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,769, highly concentrated. $502.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $497.9 m, grants $4.0 m), $31,117 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $277.1 m · 44.7% share · 2 offices | |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $94.1 m · 15.2% share · 1 office | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $92.5 m · 14.9% share · 1 office | |
| Pender, NC | $502.7 m FY2026 · $31,117/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $495.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $277,103,000 | 44.7% | 2 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $94,080,000 | 15.2% | 1 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $92,516,000 | 14.9% | 1 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $86,229,000 | 13.9% | 1 |
| SouthState Bank, National Association | $70,613,000 | 11.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,769 across 5 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 5 banks with deposits in the county = 44.7² + 15.2² + 14.9² + … (2 more) = 2,769
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 | $367,600,400 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $125,040,684 |
| Department of Transportation | $3,866,045 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $2,638,239 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,790,678 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,094,339 |
| Department of Defense | $355,019 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $242,156 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $62,574 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $31,117 per covered job, against 16,155 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $502.7 m / 16,155 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $31,117
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 #
Pender County, NC: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchPender County, NC's years of wages of 8.5 ranks 179th 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 = 94.18680600914435 >= 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
watchPender County, NC's typical asking rent is +8.6% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 8 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: rent.yoyPct = 8.56244586220515 >= 8
arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
notePender County, NC's covered employment was 2.9% 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
- +2.9 % = 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
notePender County, NC's average weekly wage was 2.2% 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
- +2.2 % = 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
notePender County, NC's typical asking rent rose 1.8% from $1,963 in July 2026 to $1,999 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +1.8% = (1998.80202020202 - 1963.3106735072486) / 1963.3106735072486 × 100
- 1998.80202020202 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1963.3106735072486 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
Read all 9 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.