Fulton County, PA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.91, -78.12.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 51st pct · 1,501st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 53rd pct · 32nd of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $233,681
- 86th pct · 421st of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 92nd pct · 6th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median +3.4%
- US counties: not published this period
- Pennsylvania counties: not published this period
- 37th pct · 1,998th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 63rd of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- 55th pct · 1,438th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 36th pct · 43rd of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,102
- 50th pct · 1,530th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 59th pct · 28th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 3.8
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 $237,313 (Aug 2026), +7.1% over one year, +20.4% over five
- 51st pct · 1,501st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 53rd pct · 32nd of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $233,681
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fulton County, PA | $237,313 · +7.1% 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
- Pennsylvania 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 $1,299 a month on $237,313 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,606 a month: 28.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $237,313 × 80% = $189,851, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,299/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,063 × 52 / 12 = $4,606) = 28% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $237,313 / ($1,063 × 52) = 4.3
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 #
5,149 jobs at 329 employers (2026 Q1); -5.9% jobs and -5.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 37th pct · 1,998th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 63rd of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fulton County, PA | 5,149 jobs · $1,063/wk · -5.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,128 | $1,316 | 5.14 | -12.2% |
| Health care and social assistance | 538 | $1,088 | 0.69 | -1.6% |
| Retail trade | 433 | $535 | 0.86 | +2.4% |
| Construction | 317 | $1,600 | 1.17 | -0.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 69 | $1,099 | 0.35 | +11.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 57 | $1,506 | 0.27 | +1.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | 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 #
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 #
8 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 8, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Raystown Lake near Huntingdon, PA | 786.3 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 59 km |
| SAVAGE RIVER RESERVOIR NEAR BLOOMINGTON, MD | 1,442 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 97 km |
| JENNINGS RANDOLPH LAKE NEAR ELK GARDEN, WV | 1,446 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 101 km |
| USGS-03075871 | 2,459 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 110 km |
| Indian Rock Dam near York, PA | 372.1 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 117 km |
| Curwensville Lake near Curwensville, PA | 1,162 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 121 km |
| Loyalhanna Creek Lake, PA | 3,652 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 128 km |
| Foster Joseph Sayers Lake near Blanchard, PA | 630.0 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 134 km |
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 #
58 gauges · 0 flooding · 8 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 21 stale
Sites found: 58, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tonoloway Creek near Needmore, PA | flow 0.46 ft³/s | 2 km |
| TONOLOWAY CREEK NEAR HANCOCK, MD | flow 5.81 ft³/s | 23 km |
| POTOMAC RIVER AT HANCOCK, MD | flow 777.0 ft³/s | 24 km |
| LICKING CREEK AT PECTONVILLE, MD | flow 22.4 ft³/s | 27 km |
| WARM SPRINGS RUN NEAR BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV | flow 1.78 ft³/s | 31 km |
| Dennis Creek near Chambersburg, PA | flow 2.80 ft³/s · STALE | 33 km |
| CONOCOCHEAGUE CREEK AT FAIRVIEW, MD | flow 123.0 ft³/s | 33 km |
| SIDELING HILL CREEK NEAR BELLEGROVE, MD | flow 0.91 ft³/s | 35 km |
| Raystown Branch Juniata River at Saxton, PA | flow 218.0 ft³/s | 36 km |
| Dunning Creek at Belden, PA | flow 49.8 ft³/s | 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 #
40 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 40, 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-395526077590201 | depth 43.7 ft · 1970-08-21 | 12 km |
| USGS-394755078135001 | depth 51.2 ft · 2026-10-05 | 16 km |
| USGS-400302078090401 | depth 0.36 ft · 1995-04-25 | 16 km |
| USGS-395519077463401 | depth 12.5 ft · 1978-11-16 | 30 km |
| USGS-395532077444101 | depth 20.9 ft · 1978-11-16 | 32 km |
| USGS-395658078301601 | depth 72.3 ft · 1984-10-24 | 33 km |
| USGS-400225078280801 | depth 42.5 ft · 1977-08-24 | 33 km |
| USGS-400217078281901 | depth 22.9 ft · 2026-10-05 | 33 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 #
$193.5 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,005, highly concentrated. $110.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $97.7 m, grants $7.5 m), $21,526 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Community State Bank of Orbisonia | $99.7 m · 51.5% share · 1 office | |
| Farmers and Merchants Trust Company of Chambersburg | $93.8 m · 48.5% share · 2 offices | |
| Fulton, PA | $110.8 m FY2026 · $21,526/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $94.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community State Bank of Orbisonia | $99,678,000 | 51.5% | 1 |
| Farmers and Merchants Trust Company of Chambersburg | $93,842,000 | 48.5% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 5,005 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 = 51.5² + 48.5² = 5,005
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 | $86,287,705 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $8,061,404 |
| Department of Transportation | $6,858,104 |
| Department of Defense | $5,583,440 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,969,542 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $560,163 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $233,253 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $132,343 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $113,590 |
| Department of Education | $35,732 |
That is $21,526 per covered job, against 5,149 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $110.8 m / 5,149 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,526
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 #
Fulton County, PA: 14 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertFulton County, PA's covered employment is -5.9% 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 = -5.9 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchFulton County, PA's covered employment is -5.9% 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 = -5.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchFulton County, PA's average weekly wage is -5.1% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -5.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchFulton County, PA's momentum index is -0.35, a watch level here: momentum index in the cooling band (the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; 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: momentum = -0.3538059846331571 <= -0.25
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchFulton County, PA's covered employment of 5,149 scores 38 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 6 across Pennsylvania counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |38 across US counties - 6 across Pennsylvania counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 12 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.