Blanco County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.27, -98.40.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 95th pct · 135th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 99th pct · 2nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 5th pct · 2,895th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 12th pct · 213th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- 77th pct · 320th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 92nd pct · 9th of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
- 31st pct · 2,204th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 41st pct · 150th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 86th pct · 429th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 77th pct · 58th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 93rd pct · 196th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 98th pct · 4th of 243 Texas counties · median 3.6
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 $568,326 (Aug 2026), -4.1% over one year, +7.8% over five
- 95th pct · 135th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 99th pct · 2nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Blanco County, TX | $568,326 · -4.1% 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 #
Typical rent $1,861/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 25.4
- 77th pct · 320th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 92nd pct · 9th of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Blanco County, TX | $1,861/mo · n/a 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 $3,111 a month on $568,326 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,750 a month: 54.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $568,326 × 80% = $454,661, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $3,111/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,327 × 52 / 12 = $5,750) = 54% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $568,326 / ($1,327 × 52) = 8.2
- price-to-rent = $568,326 / ($1,861 × 12) = 25.4
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 #
4,009 jobs at 494 employers (2026 Q1); -2.4% jobs and +4.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 31st pct · 2,204th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 41st pct · 150th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Blanco County, TX | 4,009 jobs · $1,327/wk · -2.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 535 | $544 | 1.49 | -4.8% |
| Construction | 526 | $1,493 | 2.50 | -4.7% |
| Manufacturing | 496 | $1,021 | 1.54 | -6.2% |
| Retail trade | 321 | $589 | 0.82 | -1.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 194 | $2,337 | 0.70 | +12.1% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 164 | $1,149 | 5.66 | -5.7% |
| Finance and insurance | 139 | $1,659 | 0.85 | +27.5% |
| Other services | 92 | $904 | 0.77 | +5.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 62 | $695 | 0.94 | -20.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 48 | $915 | 0.78 | +26.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 41 | $1,243 | 0.24 | -35.9% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 39 | $1,556 | 2.73 | -13.3% |
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 #
D1 moderate 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 #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 13, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lake L. B. Johnson | 98 % full · 113k ac-ft | 33 km |
| Lake Marble Falls | 99 % full · 8k ac-ft | 35 km |
| Canyon Lake | 98 % full · 379k ac-ft | 48 km |
| Lake Travis | 95 % full · 1,098k ac-ft | 49 km |
| Inks Lake | 94 % full · 14k ac-ft | 52 km |
| Lake Buchanan | 96 % full · 867k ac-ft | 54 km |
| Lake Austin | 97 % full · 24k ac-ft | 59 km |
| Lake Georgetown | 80 % full · 38k ac-ft | 78 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 #
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 (0.17)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 + 0.3×0.09 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$385.9 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,926, highly concentrated. $140.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $116.2 m, contracts $15.8 m), $35,138 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Regional Bank | $138.4 m · 35.9% share · 2 offices | |
| Johnson City Bank | $128.8 m · 33.4% share · 1 office | |
| Security State Bank & Trust | $79.0 m · 20.5% share · 1 office | |
| Blanco, TX | $140.9 m FY2026 · $35,138/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $110.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Regional Bank | $138,424,000 | 35.9% | 2 |
| Johnson City Bank | $128,839,000 | 33.4% | 1 |
| Security State Bank & Trust | $78,987,000 | 20.5% | 1 |
| Rio Bank | $39,662,000 | 10.3% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 2,926 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 35.9² + 33.4² + 20.5² + … (1 more) = 2,926
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 | $97,164,232 |
| Department of Defense | $13,847,915 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $13,185,645 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,258,553 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,746,588 |
| Department of the Interior | $1,987,696 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,828,481 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,264,540 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $516,088 |
| Department of Education | $59,750 |
| Small Business Administration | $6,942 |
That is $35,138 per covered job, against 4,009 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $140.9 m / 4,009 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $35,138
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 | -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 #
Blanco County, TX: 18 findings, 6 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchBlanco County, TX's price-to-rent ratio of 25.4 ranks 77th of 1,399 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 94.56366237482118 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchBlanco County, TX's typical home value is -4.1% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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: home.yoyPct = -4.090110185895028 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchBlanco County, TX's years of wages of 8.2 ranks 196th 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 = 93.63161332462442 >= 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
watchBlanco County, TX's covered employment is -2.4% 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 = -2.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBlanco County, TX's price-to-rent ratio is 25.4, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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: priceToRent = 25.445524120375655 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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.