Briscoe County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.53, -101.21.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 24th pct · 2,310th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 31st pct · 166th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 98th pct · 43rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 97th pct · 7th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 1st pct · 3,183rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 1st pct · 249th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 51st pct · 1,572nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 36th pct · 162nd of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 24th pct · 2,322nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 41st pct · 143rd 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 $172,265 (Aug 2026), +12.9% over one year, n/a over five
- 24th pct · 2,310th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 31st pct · 166th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Briscoe County, TX | $172,265 · +12.9% 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 $943 a month on $172,265 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,520 a month: 20.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $172,265 × 80% = $137,812, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $943/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,043 × 52 / 12 = $4,520) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $172,265 / ($1,043 × 52) = 3.2
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 #
338 jobs at 70 employers (2026 Q1); -4.8% jobs and +11.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 1st pct · 3,183rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 1st pct · 249th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Briscoe County, TX | 338 jobs · $1,043/wk · -4.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 51 | $824 | 20.89 | -15.0% |
| Retail trade | 34 | $424 | 1.03 | -8.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 25 | $1,364 | 1.82 | -3.8% |
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical services | withheld | |||
| Health care and social assistance | withheld | |||
| Accommodation and food services | withheld | |||
| Other services | 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 #
D4 exceptional 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 #
37 % of conservation capacity, weighted over 4 TWDB reservoirs
Sites found: 6, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mackenzie Reservoir | 11 % full · 46k ac-ft | 21 km |
| USGS-07299840 | 3,129 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 60 km |
| Greenbelt Lake | 5 % full · 60k ac-ft | 60 km |
| White River Reservoir | 21 % full · 32k ac-ft | 119 km |
| USGS-07227900 | 258,900 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 136 km |
| Lake Meredith | 44 % full · 500k ac-ft | 136 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 #
5 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels
Sites found: 5, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tule Draw at Mackenzie Reservior | no readings | 21 km |
| USGS-07298500 | flow 0.01 ft³/s | 27 km |
| USGS-07297910 | flow 0.01 ft³/s · no flooding | 40 km |
| USGS-08080700 | flow 0.00 ft³/s · no flooding | 60 km |
| USGS-07299890 | flow 0.00 ft³/s · no flooding | 65 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 #
1 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 1, 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-342116101452901 | depth 184.8 ft · 2005-09-29 | 54 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 #
severe (0.83)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×1.00 + 0.3×0.63 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$147.8 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 6,693, highly concentrated. $22.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $22.8 m, grants $42,663), $67,468 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The First National Bank of Quitaque | $116.9 m · 79.1% share · 2 offices | |
| Centennial Bank | $30.9 m · 20.9% share · 1 office | |
| Briscoe, TX | $22.8 m FY2026 · $67,468/job | |
| REDACTED DUE TO PII | $13.8 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The First National Bank of Quitaque | $116,903,000 | 79.1% | 2 |
| Centennial Bank | $30,903,000 | 20.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 6,693 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 = 79.1² + 20.9² = 6,693
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 Agriculture | $13,743,863 |
| Social Security Administration | $8,069,033 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $682,104 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $181,201 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $85,426 |
| Department of Education | $42,663 |
That is $67,468 per covered job, against 338 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $22.8 m / 338 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $67,468
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 #
Briscoe County, TX: 12 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 10 noted
alertBriscoe County, TX's covered employment is -4.8% 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 = -4.8 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBriscoe County, TX's covered employment is -4.8% 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 = -4.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteBriscoe County, TX's average weekly wage was 11.4% 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
- +11.4 % = 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
noteBriscoe County, TX's covered employment was 4.8% 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
- -4.8 % = 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
noteBriscoe County, TX's typical home value rose 1.2% from $170,209 in July 2026 to $172,265 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +1.2% = (172265.1174022587 - 170208.73880632254) / 170208.73880632254 × 100
- 172265.1174022587 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 170208.73880632254 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
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.