Wallowa County, OR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 45.59, -117.19.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 320th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 54th pct · 17th of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
- 37th pct · 1,916th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 71st pct · 11th of 36 Oregon counties · median +0.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Oregon counties: not published this period
- 20th pct · 2,553rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 14th pct · 31st of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
- 57th pct · 1,353rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 51st pct · 18th of 36 Oregon counties · median $1,074
- 92nd pct · 236th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 71st pct · 11th 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 $438,447 (Aug 2026), +1.8% over one year, +22.5% over five
- 89th pct · 320th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 54th pct · 17th of 36 Oregon counties · median $432,775
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wallowa County, OR | $438,447 · +1.8% 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 $2,400 a month on $438,447 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,667 a month: 51.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $438,447 × 80% = $350,758, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,400/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,077 × 52 / 12 = $4,667) = 51% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $438,447 / ($1,077 × 52) = 7.8
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 #
2,543 jobs at 437 employers (2026 Q1); -4.6% jobs and +4.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 20th pct · 2,553rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 14th pct · 31st of 36 Oregon counties · median 15,683
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wallowa County, OR | 2,543 jobs · $1,077/wk · -4.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 250 | $640 | 1.01 | -9.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 168 | $446 | 0.74 | -19.6% |
| Construction | 161 | $923 | 1.21 | -5.3% |
| Other services | 118 | $717 | 1.55 | +0.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 82 | $1,277 | 0.77 | -5.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 73 | $1,256 | 0.70 | +46.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 70 | $1,061 | 1.80 | -5.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 65 | $968 | 0.37 | -12.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 51 | $2,082 | 0.35 | -7.3% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 23 | $647 | 0.55 | +27.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| 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 #
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 #
23 gauges · 0 flooding · 6 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 12 stale
Sites found: 23, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| WALLOWA R ABV CROSS CNTRY CANAL, NR ENTERPRISE, OR | flow 188.0 ft³/s · STALE | 21 km |
| LOSTINE RIVER AT CAUDLE LANE AT LOSTINE, OR | flow 22.0 ft³/s · STALE | 23 km |
| LOSTINE RIVER AT BAKER ROAD, NEAR LOSTINE, OR | flow 62.0 ft³/s · STALE | 24 km |
| LOSTINE RIVER NEAR LOSTINE, OR | flow 34.0 ft³/s · STALE | 26 km |
| IMNAHA RIVER AT IMNAHA, OR | flow 150.0 ft³/s · no flooding · STALE | 28 km |
| BEAR CREEK AT WALLOWA, OR | flow 7.50 ft³/s · STALE | 28 km |
| SILVER LAKE DITCH AT JOSEPH,OREG. | flow 96.0 ft³/s · STALE | 29 km |
| BEAR CREEK NEAR WALLOWA, OR | flow 11.0 ft³/s · STALE | 30 km |
| WALLOWA RIVER BELOW WATER CANYON, NR WALLOWA, OR | flow 277.0 ft³/s · STALE | 34 km |
| EAST FORK WALLOWA RIVER NEAR JOSEPH, OR | flow 11.8 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) | 36 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 #
$172.1 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,111, highly concentrated. $72.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $67.6 m, grants $4.7 m), $28,552 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia Bank | $98.9 m · 57.4% share · 2 offices | |
| Bank of Eastern Oregon | $73.3 m · 42.6% share · 1 office | |
| Wallowa, OR | $72.6 m FY2026 · $28,552/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $60.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Bank | $98,888,000 | 57.4% | 2 |
| Bank of Eastern Oregon | $73,254,000 | 42.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,111 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 57.4² + 42.6² = 5,111
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 | $54,317,513 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $6,061,349 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,019,838 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,811,567 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,236,831 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $2,051,877 |
| Department of Transportation | $561,391 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $347,040 |
| Department of Education | $112,861 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $97,934 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of the Interior | -$9,964 |
That is $28,552 per covered job, against 2,543 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $72.6 m / 2,543 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,552
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 #
Wallowa County, OR: 11 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 6 noted
alertWallowa County, OR's covered employment is -4.6% 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 = -4.6 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchWallowa County, OR's covered employment is -4.6% 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 = -4.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchWallowa County, OR's years of wages of 7.8 ranks 236th 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 = 92.32527759634226 >= 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
watchWallowa County, OR's typical home value of $438,447 scores 90 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 54 across Oregon counties, a gap of 35 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 35 = |90 across US counties - 54 across Oregon counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchWallowa County, OR's typical home value of +1.8% scores 37 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 71 across Oregon counties, a gap of 34 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 34 = |37 across US counties - 71 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.