Brewster County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 29.81, -103.25.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 47th pct · 1,622nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 56th pct · 107th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 5th pct · 2,900th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 11th pct · 214th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 33rd pct · 2,143rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 43rd pct · 145th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 64th pct · 1,139th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 49th pct · 129th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 42nd pct · 1,761st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 57th pct · 103rd 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 $227,035 (Aug 2026), -4.1% over one year, -2.2% over five
- 47th pct · 1,622nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 56th pct · 107th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brewster County, TX | $227,035 · -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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas 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 $1,243 a month on $227,035 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,823 a month: 25.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $227,035 × 80% = $181,628, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,243/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,113 × 52 / 12 = $4,823) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $227,035 / ($1,113 × 52) = 3.9
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 #
4,335 jobs at 417 employers (2026 Q1); -6.1% jobs and +9.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 33rd pct · 2,143rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 43rd pct · 145th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brewster County, TX | 4,335 jobs · $1,113/wk · -6.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 994 | $641 | 2.55 | -6.8% |
| Retail trade | 381 | $585 | 0.90 | -33.0% |
| Health care and social assistance | 358 | $1,218 | 0.55 | +9.1% |
| Construction | 320 | $1,522 | 1.41 | +30.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 155 | $1,973 | 0.93 | +1.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 122 | $1,424 | 0.41 | +9.9% |
| Other services | 115 | $704 | 0.89 | -9.4% |
| Information | 108 | $1,222 | 1.35 | +4.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 92 | $2,380 | 0.52 | +4.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 56 | $750 | 0.84 | +0.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 50 | $822 | 0.27 | -10.7% |
| Educational services | 35 | $1,326 | 0.38 | -5.4% |
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.
Water #
Banks & federal dollars #
$226.7 m in deposits at 5 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,723, highly concentrated. $6.5 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $6.5 bn, grants $4.9 m), $1.5 m per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| West Texas National Bank | $144.5 m · 63.7% share · 2 offices | |
| Transpecos Banks, SSB | $44.0 m · 19.4% share · 2 offices | |
| Maverick Bank | $38.2 m · 16.9% share · 1 office | |
| Brewster, TX | $6.5 bn FY2026 · $1.5 m/job | |
| FISHER SAND & GRAVEL CO | $3.8 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Texas National Bank | $144,510,000 | 63.7% | 2 |
| Transpecos Banks, SSB | $43,999,000 | 19.4% | 2 |
| Maverick Bank | $38,240,000 | 16.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,723 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 63.7² + 19.4² + 16.9² = 4,723
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 |
|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | $6,522,493,357 |
| Social Security Administration | $46,669,757 |
| Department of Education | $7,448,887 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $7,316,509 |
| General Services Administration | $5,093,045 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,313,107 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,322,623 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,322,608 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $891,017 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $585,979 |
| Institute of Museum and Library Services | $412,977 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $49,919 |
That is $1,504,656 per covered job, against 4,335 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $6.5 bn / 4,335 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $1.5 m
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 #
Brewster County, TX: 12 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertBrewster County, TX's covered employment is -6.1% 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 = -6.1 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBrewster County, TX's covered employment is -6.1% 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 = -6.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBrewster 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 = -4.14002744283785 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteBrewster County, TX's average weekly wage was 9.0% 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
- +9 % = 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
noteBrewster County, TX's covered employment was 6.1% lower 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
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.