Athens County, OH
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.33, -82.05.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 32nd pct · 2,055th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 31st pct · 61st of 88 Ohio counties · median $219,740
- 60th pct · 1,205th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 43rd pct · 50th of 88 Ohio counties · median +4.2%
- 12th pct · 1,221st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 26th pct · 38th of 51 Ohio counties · median $1,327
- 72nd pct · 900th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 50th pct · 44th of 88 Ohio counties · median 20,657
- 42nd pct · 1,864th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 19th pct · 71st of 88 Ohio counties · median $1,081
- 35th pct · 1,981st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 43rd pct · 50th of 88 Ohio counties · median 3.7
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 $190,208 (Aug 2026), +3.9% over one year, +22.5% over five
- 32nd pct · 2,055th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 31st pct · 61st of 88 Ohio counties · median $219,740
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Athens County, OH | $190,208 · +3.9% 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 $1,071/mo (Aug 2026), +0.2% over one year; price-to-rent 14.8
- 12th pct · 1,221st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 26th pct · 38th of 51 Ohio counties · median $1,327
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Athens County, OH | $1,071/mo · +0.2% 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 $1,041 a month on $190,208 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,351 a month: 23.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $190,208 × 80% = $152,166, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,041/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,004 × 52 / 12 = $4,351) = 24% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $190,208 / ($1,004 × 52) = 3.6
- price-to-rent = $190,208 / ($1,071 × 12) = 14.8
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 #
20,691 jobs at 1,346 employers (2026 Q1); -1.4% jobs and +4.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 72nd pct · 900th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 50th pct · 44th of 88 Ohio counties · median 20,657
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Athens County, OH | 20,691 jobs · $1,004/wk · -1.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 3,289 | $1,151 | 1.06 | -2.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,785 | $344 | 1.50 | +1.4% |
| Retail trade | 2,450 | $667 | 1.22 | -2.5% |
| Manufacturing | 647 | $1,184 | 0.39 | +1.9% |
| Construction | 580 | $1,192 | 0.53 | +12.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 405 | $1,576 | 0.48 | -4.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 399 | $1,138 | 0.50 | +0.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 394 | $1,360 | 0.28 | -6.9% |
| Other services | 390 | $719 | 0.63 | -10.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 302 | $880 | 0.95 | +3.1% |
| Information | 187 | $1,367 | 0.49 | +2.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 182 | $1,157 | 0.21 | +0.0% |
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 #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
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 #
No reservoir gauges within 150 km (or the camera is above the gauge altitude)
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 #
41 gauges · 0 flooding · 2 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 10 stale
Sites found: 41, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hocking River below Athens OH | flow 5,930 ft³/s · STALE | 4 km |
| Hocking River at Athens OH | flow 602.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 4 km |
| Sunday Creek below Millfield OH | flow 11.6 ft³/s · STALE | 12 km |
| Monday Creek at Doanville OH | flow 13.1 ft³/s · STALE | 17 km |
| Snow Fork Monday Creek at Buchtel OH | flow 10.0 ft³/s · STALE | 18 km |
| Sunday Creek at Glouster OH | stage 3.03 ft · no flooding | 19 km |
| Sunday Creek near Burr Oak OH | stage 7.24 ft | 21 km |
| Sunday Creek at Tom Jenkins Dam (Burr Oak Lake) | no readings | 23 km |
| Sunday Creek at Tom Jenkins Dam | no readings | 23 km |
| Raccoon Creek near Bolins Mills OH | flow 51.7 ft³/s · STALE | 24 km |
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 #
29 wells in 2 named aquifers: Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions), Mississippian aquifers
Sites found: 29, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-391940082070000 | depth 20.3 ft · 1982-07-19 | 6 km |
| Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions) | depth 19.7 ft · 2026-07-21 | 6 km |
| Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions) | depth 18.6 ft · 2026-09-08 | 7 km |
| Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions) | depth 12.2 ft · 2026-07-22 | 19 km |
| USGS-392148082185500 | depth 42.8 ft · 1982-01-10 | 23 km |
| USGS-392148082185700 | depth 34.8 ft · 1981-03-11 | 23 km |
| USGS-392159082190000 | depth 36.3 ft · 1981-11-21 | 24 km |
| USGS-392206082190400 | depth 17.8 ft · 1981-03-18 | 24 km |
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 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$899.0 m in deposits at 17 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,495, highly concentrated. $372.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $304.6 m, grants $56.2 m), $18,012 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Hocking Valley Bank | $312.0 m · 34.7% share · 5 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $277.3 m · 30.8% share · 2 offices | |
| Peoples Bank | $138.5 m · 15.4% share · 3 offices | |
| Athens, OH | $372.7 m FY2026 · $18,012/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $249.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hocking Valley Bank | $312,012,000 | 34.7% | 5 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $277,250,000 | 30.8% | 2 |
| Peoples Bank | $138,478,000 | 15.4% | 3 |
| The First National Bank of McConnelsville | $59,795,000 | 6.7% | 3 |
| The Farmers Bank and Savings Company | $47,401,000 | 5.3% | 1 |
| Unified Bank | $45,593,000 | 5.1% | 2 |
| The Merchants National Bank | $18,446,000 | 2.1% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,495 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 = 34.7² + 30.8² + 15.4² + … (4 more) = 2,495
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 | $211,473,932 |
| Department of Education | $46,012,651 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $36,481,616 |
| Department of Transportation | $27,865,909 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $14,464,899 |
| Department of Defense | $10,119,287 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $8,123,441 |
| Department of Energy | $7,116,425 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $2,639,023 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $2,303,412 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,724,462 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,389,606 |
That is $18,012 per covered job, against 20,691 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $372.7 m / 20,691 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,012
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 | -88,576.00 | 2026-07-01 | -24.4% |
| 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 #
Athens County, OH: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchAthens County, OH's covered employment is -1.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -1.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteAthens County, OH's average weekly wage 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
noteAthens County, OH's covered employment was 1.4% 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
- -1.4 % = 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
noteAthens County, OH's typical asking rent fell 0.4% from $1,076 in July 2026 to $1,071 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.4% = (1070.8666666666666 - 1075.591423725805) / 1075.591423725805 × 100
- 1070.8666666666666 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1075.591423725805 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Athens County, OH 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.