Northampton County, PA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.75, -75.31.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 82nd pct · 524th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 93rd pct · 5th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $233,681
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 54th pct · 1,382nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 50th pct · 34th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median +3.4%
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 77th pct · 310th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 89th pct · 6th of 48 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,349
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 92nd pct · 256th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 15th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 84th pct · 489th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 78th pct · 15th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,102
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 72nd pct · 831st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 89th pct · 8th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 3.8
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $374,608 (Aug 2026), +3.4% over one year, +32.0% over five
- 82nd pct · 524th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 93rd pct · 5th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median $233,681
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Northampton County, PA | $374,608 · +3.4% 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 $1,887/mo (Aug 2026), +3.5% over one year; price-to-rent 16.5
- 77th pct · 310th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 89th pct · 6th of 48 Pennsylvania counties · median $1,349
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Northampton County, PA | $1,887/mo · +3.5% 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 $2,050 a month on $374,608 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,633 a month: 36.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $374,608 × 80% = $299,686, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,050/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,300 × 52 / 12 = $5,633) = 36% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $374,608 / ($1,300 × 52) = 5.5
- price-to-rent = $374,608 / ($1,887 × 12) = 16.5
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 #
123,040 jobs at 7,216 employers (2026 Q1); +1.5% jobs and +6.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 92nd pct · 256th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 78th pct · 15th of 67 Pennsylvania counties · median 27,809
- counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Northampton County, PA | 123,040 jobs · $1,300/wk · +1.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 17,123 | $1,218 | 0.92 | +3.0% |
| Manufacturing | 16,092 | $2,185 | 1.63 | -0.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 15,698 | $1,097 | 3.03 | +2.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 12,032 | $602 | 1.09 | +0.6% |
| Retail trade | 11,837 | $753 | 0.99 | -1.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 6,553 | $862 | 0.94 | +11.8% |
| Educational services | 5,147 | $1,439 | 1.94 | +1.3% |
| Construction | 4,443 | $1,531 | 0.69 | +3.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 4,367 | $1,649 | 0.93 | -5.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 3,745 | $1,791 | 0.44 | +2.6% |
| Other services | 3,626 | $807 | 0.99 | -0.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,667 | $2,785 | 0.53 | +30.1% |
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 #
Surface water layer not loaded
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 #
Surface water layer not loaded
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 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 #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$7.8 bn in deposits at 72 offices of 21 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,044, moderately concentrated. $2.1 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $2.0 bn, grants $50.6 m), $17,185 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1.2 bn · 15.7% share · 8 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $1.2 bn · 15.5% share · 7 offices | |
| Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley | $995.9 m · 12.8% share · 4 offices | |
| Northampton, PA | $2.1 bn FY2026 · $17,185/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $2.0 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $1,222,736,000 | 15.7% | 8 |
| Truist Bank | $1,212,897,000 | 15.5% | 7 |
| Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley | $995,920,000 | 12.8% | 4 |
| Fulton Bank, National Association | $965,070,000 | 12.4% | 7 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $723,623,000 | 9.3% | 6 |
| The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank | $572,746,000 | 7.3% | 7 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $479,964,000 | 6.1% | 3 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $473,614,000 | 6.1% | 3 |
| First Northern Bank and Trust Company | $209,262,000 | 2.7% | 4 |
| Community Bank, National Association | $181,332,000 | 2.3% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 1,044 across 19 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 19 banks with deposits in the county = 15.7² + 15.5² + 12.8² + … (16 more) = 1,044
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 | $1,843,129,797 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $127,107,515 |
| Department of Education | $37,159,501 |
| Department of Transportation | $34,474,617 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $28,978,599 |
| Department of Defense | $13,900,175 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $12,520,441 |
| National Science Foundation | $6,721,000 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,902,205 |
| Department of Energy | $2,977,370 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,874,157 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $2,516,018 |
That is $17,185 per covered job, against 123,040 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.1 bn / 123,040 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $17,185
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 #
Northampton County, PA: 10 findings, 10 noted
noteNorthampton County, PA's average weekly wage was 6.1% 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
- +6.1 % = 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
noteNorthampton County, PA's covered employment was 1.5% 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
- +1.5 % = 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
noteNorthampton County, PA's typical home value rose 0.5% from $372,725 in July 2026 to $374,608 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.5% = (374607.5289728609 - 372725.328683846) / 372725.328683846 × 100
- 374607.5289728609 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 372725.328683846 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteNorthampton County, PA's typical asking rent rose 0.3% from $1,880 in July 2026 to $1,887 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (1886.554492753623 - 1880.114220231065) / 1880.114220231065 × 100
- 1886.554492753623 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1880.114220231065 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
noteNorthampton County, PA's typical home value of $374,608 ranks 5th of 67 Pennsylvania counties, against a median of $233,681.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 94 on the 0-to-100 scale across 67 Pennsylvania counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.