Malheur County, OR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 43.19, -117.60.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 71st pct · 867th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 20th pct · 29th of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
- 50th pct · 1,523rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 85th pct · 6th of 36 Oregon counties · median +0.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Oregon counties: not published this period
- 62nd pct · 1,217th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 19th of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
- 39th pct · 1,955th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 5th pct · 34th of 36 Oregon counties · median $1,074
- 79th pct · 631st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 31st pct · 25th 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 $311,919 (Aug 2026), +2.9% over one year, +22.5% over five
- 71st pct · 867th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 20th pct · 29th of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Malheur County, OR | $311,919 · +2.9% 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 #
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 $1,707 a month on $311,919 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,299 a month: 39.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $311,919 × 80% = $249,535, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,707/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $992 × 52 / 12 = $4,299) = 40% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $311,919 / ($992 × 52) = 6.0
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 #
13,519 jobs at 1,062 employers (2026 Q1); +1.6% jobs and +3.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 62nd pct · 1,217th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 48th pct · 19th of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Malheur County, OR | 13,519 jobs · $992/wk · +1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 2,192 | $753 | 1.66 | -1.9% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,898 | $972 | 0.93 | +1.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,222 | $393 | 1.01 | +4.2% |
| Manufacturing | 1,088 | $924 | 1.00 | -0.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 522 | $1,072 | 1.01 | +3.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 319 | $1,202 | 0.56 | +3.9% |
| Other services | 258 | $717 | 0.64 | -3.7% |
| Construction | 240 | $937 | 0.34 | -7.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 224 | $1,177 | 0.24 | -8.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 169 | $1,476 | 0.31 | -5.6% |
| Educational services | 79 | $822 | 0.27 | +6.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 68 | $865 | 0.33 | -6.8% |
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 #
12 gauges · 0 flooding · 1 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 6 stale
Sites found: 12, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OWYHEE RIVER NR ROME OR | flow 69.4 ft³/s | 36 km |
| Succor Creek near Jordan Valley | no readings | 45 km |
| JORDAN CREEK AB LONE TREE CR NR JORDAN VALLEY OR | flow 101.0 ft³/s · STALE | 58 km |
| OWYHEE RIVER BELOW OWYHEE DAM, OR | flow 99.7 ft³/s · no flooding | 59 km |
| SOUTH FORK MALHEUR RIVER NR RIVERSIDE, OR | flow 14.1 ft³/s | 59 km |
| JORDAN CR AT DE LAMAR MINE NR JORDAN VALLEY OR | flow 0.90 ft³/s · STALE | 63 km |
| MALHEUR RIVER BEL WARMSPRINGS RES NR RIVERSIDE OR | flow 75.0 ft³/s · STALE | 65 km |
| Southeast Oregon Reservoirs at Warm Springs Reservoir | no readings | 66 km |
| Malheur River at Namorf | no readings | 66 km |
| SUCCOR CREEK AT MOUTH NR HOMEDALE ID | flow 32.0 ft³/s · STALE | 71 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 #
$494.4 m in deposits at 8 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,813, highly concentrated. $175.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $173.0 m, contracts $14.4 m), $12,960 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank National Association | $134.6 m · 27.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Columbia Bank | $99.2 m · 20.1% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $81.8 m · 16.5% share · 1 office | |
| Malheur, OR | $175.2 m FY2026 · $12,960/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank National Association | $134,565,000 | 27.2% | 2 |
| Columbia Bank | $99,173,000 | 20.1% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $81,812,000 | 16.5% | 1 |
| 1st Security Bank of Washington | $77,973,000 | 15.8% | 1 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $45,170,000 | 9.1% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $28,869,000 | 5.8% | 1 |
| WaFd Bank | $26,879,000 | 5.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,813 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 = 27.2² + 20.1² + 16.5² + … (4 more) = 1,813
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 #
That is $12,960 per covered job, against 13,519 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $175.2 m / 13,519 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $12,960
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 #
Malheur County, OR: 10 findings, 4 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchMalheur County, OR's typical home value of $311,919 scores 72 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 20 across Oregon counties, a gap of 52 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 52 = |72 across US counties - 20 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMalheur County, OR's years of wages of 6.0 scores 79 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 31 across Oregon counties, a gap of 48 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 48 = |79 across US counties - 31 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
watchMalheur County, OR's typical home value of +2.9% scores 50 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 86 across Oregon counties, a gap of 35 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 35 = |50 across US counties - 86 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMalheur County, OR's average weekly wage of $992 scores 39 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 6 across Oregon counties, a gap of 33 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 33 = |39 across US counties - 6 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMalheur County, OR's average weekly wage was 3.5% 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
- +3.5 % = 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
Read all 10 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.