Dawson County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 32.74, -101.95.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 4th pct · 2,939th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 8th pct · 222nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 76th pct · 712th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 85th pct · 36th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 31st pct · 2,217th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 40th pct · 152nd of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 68th pct · 1,003rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 54th pct · 115th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 2nd pct · 2,984th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 9th pct · 221st 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 $107,992 (Aug 2026), +5.6% over one year, -10.8% over five
- 4th pct · 2,939th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 8th pct · 222nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Dawson County, TX | $107,992 · +5.6% 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 $591 a month on $107,992 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,936 a month: 12.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $107,992 × 80% = $86,393, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $591/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,139 × 52 / 12 = $4,936) = 12% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $107,992 / ($1,139 × 52) = 1.8
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 #
3,948 jobs at 458 employers (2026 Q1); -4.4% jobs and +3.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 31st pct · 2,217th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 40th pct · 152nd of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Dawson County, TX | 3,948 jobs · $1,139/wk · -4.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 559 | $847 | 1.45 | -5.3% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 402 | $2,189 | 28.60 | -10.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 393 | $382 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 335 | $1,318 | 11.75 | -4.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 140 | $1,327 | 0.87 | -6.0% |
| Construction | 109 | $1,491 | 0.53 | +0.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 87 | $1,510 | 0.32 | -11.2% |
| Manufacturing | 84 | $916 | 0.26 | -3.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 66 | $1,452 | 0.44 | +3.1% |
| Other services | 64 | $900 | 0.54 | -8.6% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 60 | $1,393 | 0.36 | +3.4% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 42 | $303 | 0.65 | +0.0% |
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 #
D2 severe 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 5 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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-08118000 | 39,810 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 78 km |
| Lake J.B. Thomas | 20 % full · 200k ac-ft | 78 km |
| Lake Alan Henry | 71 % full · 96k ac-ft | 91 km |
| Lake Colorado City | 53 % full · 31k ac-ft | 106 km |
| White River Reservoir | 21 % full · 32k ac-ft | 113 km |
| Champion Creek Reservoir | 43 % full · 42k ac-ft | 114 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 #
2 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels
Sites found: 2, 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-08117995 | flow 0.00 ft³/s | 63 km |
| Beals Creek at Natural Dam Salt Lake | observation not current | 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-325550101381501 | depth 23.9 ft · 2024-05-27 | 36 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 #
high (0.56)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.63 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$629.1 m in deposits at 3 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,757, highly concentrated. $50.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $49.5 m, contracts $323,807), $12,674 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Lamesa National Bank | $375.1 m · 59.6% share · 1 office | |
| First United Bank | $214.5 m · 34.1% share · 1 office | |
| The State National Bank of Big Spring | $39.5 m · 6.3% share · 1 office | |
| Dawson, TX | $50.0 m FY2026 · $12,674/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $47.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lamesa National Bank | $375,086,000 | 59.6% | 1 |
| First United Bank | $214,535,000 | 34.1% | 1 |
| The State National Bank of Big Spring | $39,527,000 | 6.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,757 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 = 59.6² + 34.1² + 6.3² = 4,757
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 | $44,755,429 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $5,437,822 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,621,639 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,454,526 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $818,179 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $79,507 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $58,606 |
| Department of Education | $39,843 |
| National Credit Union Administration | $20,000 |
| Department of Transportation | -$5,248,754 |
That is $12,674 per covered job, against 3,948 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $50.0 m / 3,948 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $12,674
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 #
Dawson County, TX: 11 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertDawson County, TX's covered employment is -4.4% 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 = -4.4 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchDawson County, TX's covered employment is -4.4% 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 = -4.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteDawson County, TX's covered employment was 4.4% 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
- -4.4 % = 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
noteDawson County, TX's average weekly wage was 3.8% 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
- +3.8 % = 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
noteDawson County, TX's years of wages of 1.8 ranks 2,984th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of 4.3.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 3 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published yearsOfWages
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.