Baker County, OR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 44.70, -117.69.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 70th pct · 919th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 14th pct · 31st of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
- 26th pct · 2,256th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 51st pct · 18th of 36 Oregon counties · median +0.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Oregon counties: not published this period
- 39th pct · 1,959th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 29th of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
- 45th pct · 1,749th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 14th pct · 31st of 36 Oregon counties · median $1,074
- 75th pct · 765th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 25th pct · 27th of 36 Oregon counties · median 6.8
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 $302,005 (Aug 2026), +0.7% over one year, +25.3% over five
- 70th pct · 919th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 14th pct · 31st of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baker County, OR | $302,005 · +0.7% 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
- Oregon 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 $1,653 a month on $302,005 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,424 a month: 37.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $302,005 × 80% = $241,604, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,653/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,021 × 52 / 12 = $4,424) = 37% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $302,005 / ($1,021 × 52) = 5.7
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 #
5,381 jobs at 684 employers (2026 Q1); -3.6% jobs and +2.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 39th pct · 1,959th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 29th of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baker County, OR | 5,381 jobs · $1,021/wk · -3.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 879 | $1,162 | 1.09 | +0.0% |
| Retail trade | 789 | $613 | 1.50 | -7.3% |
| Manufacturing | 568 | $1,361 | 1.31 | +2.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 477 | $458 | 0.99 | +0.0% |
| Construction | 236 | $904 | 0.84 | +1.3% |
| Other services | 212 | $476 | 1.32 | -0.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 171 | $961 | 0.46 | -1.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 119 | $966 | 0.39 | -7.8% |
| Utilities | 118 | $2,346 | 5.55 | -7.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 91 | $1,195 | 0.40 | -4.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 76 | $1,219 | 0.35 | +11.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 64 | $1,348 | 0.31 | -1.5% |
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 #
D2 severe 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 #
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 #
26 gauges · 0 flooding · 1 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 4 stale
Sites found: 26, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Powder River (OR) at Baker City | no flooding | 13 km |
| Burnt River near Bridgeport | no readings | 22 km |
| POWDER RIVER NR SUMPTER OR | flow 9.50 ft³/s · STALE | 24 km |
| Powder River (OR) near Sumpter | no readings | 32 km |
| Powder River (OR) near Richland | no readings | 33 km |
| Deer Creek (East Oregon) near McKewen | no readings | 33 km |
| Powder River (OR) below Thief Valley Reservoir | no readings | 34 km |
| Rock Creek (OR) near Haines | no readings | 37 km |
| Eagle Creek above Skull Creek near New Bridge | no readings | 40 km |
| Powder River (OR) above Thief Valley Reservoir | observation not current | 41 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 #
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 (0.32)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$349.5 m in deposits at 4 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,359, highly concentrated. $196.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $136.4 m, contracts $53.5 m), $36,469 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank National Association | $131.0 m · 37.5% share · 2 offices | |
| Columbia Bank | $110.2 m · 31.5% share · 1 office | |
| Banner Bank | $108.3 m · 31.0% share · 1 office | |
| Baker, OR | $196.2 m FY2026 · $36,469/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $131.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank National Association | $130,970,000 | 37.5% | 2 |
| Columbia Bank | $110,243,000 | 31.5% | 1 |
| Banner Bank | $108,260,000 | 31.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,359 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 37.5² + 31.5² + 31.0² = 3,359
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 | $110,301,061 |
| Department of Agriculture | $56,536,884 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $19,523,893 |
| Department of Transportation | $5,581,286 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,849,791 |
| Department of the Interior | $1,664,429 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $397,544 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $224,972 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $87,640 |
| Department of Education | $37,053 |
| General Services Administration | $34,136 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $36,469 per covered job, against 5,381 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $196.2 m / 5,381 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $36,469
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 | 12.28 | 2026-10-04 | -0.1% |
| 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 #
Baker County, OR: 11 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 6 noted
alertBaker County, OR's covered employment is -3.6% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -3.6 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBaker County, OR's covered employment is -3.6% 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 = -3.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBaker County, OR's typical home value of $302,005 scores 70 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 14 across Oregon counties, a gap of 56 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 56 = |70 across US counties - 14 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBaker County, OR's years of wages of 5.7 scores 75 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 26 across Oregon counties, a gap of 49 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 49 = |75 across US counties - 26 across Oregon counties|
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBaker County, OR's average weekly wage of $1,021 scores 46 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 14 across Oregon counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |46 across US counties - 14 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.