Hardin County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.33, -94.39.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 49th pct · 1,543rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 59th pct · 100th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 37th pct · 1,905th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 69th pct · 76th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 66th pct · 466th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 84th pct · 17th of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 58th pct · 1,329th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 66th pct · 86th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 49th pct · 1,611th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 35th pct · 165th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 50th pct · 1,511th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 66th pct · 83rd of 243 Texas counties · median 3.6
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur 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 $233,544 (Aug 2026), +1.9% over one year, +6.8% over five
- 49th pct · 1,543rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 59th pct · 100th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hardin County, TX | $233,544 · +1.9% 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 #
Typical rent $1,701/mo (Aug 2026), +4.2% over one year; price-to-rent 11.4
- 66th pct · 466th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 84th pct · 17th of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hardin County, TX | $1,701/mo · +4.2% 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 $1,278 a month on $233,544 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,502 a month: 28.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $233,544 × 80% = $186,836, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,278/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,039 × 52 / 12 = $4,502) = 28% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $233,544 / ($1,039 × 52) = 4.3
- price-to-rent = $233,544 / ($1,701 × 12) = 11.4
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 #
11,962 jobs at 971 employers (2026 Q1); -2.2% jobs and -0.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 58th pct · 1,329th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 66th pct · 86th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hardin County, TX | 11,962 jobs · $1,039/wk · -2.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 2,078 | $882 | 1.78 | +1.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,517 | $365 | 1.41 | +3.7% |
| Construction | 1,319 | $1,614 | 2.10 | -7.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,036 | $816 | 0.58 | +2.9% |
| Manufacturing | 951 | $1,509 | 0.99 | -3.7% |
| Other services | 435 | $1,156 | 1.22 | -9.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 414 | $1,345 | 0.50 | -9.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 253 | $1,437 | 0.55 | -17.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 241 | $737 | 0.35 | +7.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 235 | $1,443 | 0.48 | -10.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 229 | $2,378 | 0.45 | -5.4% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 192 | $1,240 | 4.51 | -12.7% |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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: 7, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| B. A. Steinhagen Lake | 96 % full · 69k ac-ft | 56 km |
| Livingston Reservoir | 91 % full · 1,604k ac-ft | 68 km |
| Lake Houston | 100 % full · 132k ac-ft | 85 km |
| Sam Rayburn Reservoir | 64 % full · 2,857k ac-ft | 86 km |
| Lake Conroe | 95 % full · 418k ac-ft | 112 km |
| Toledo Bend Reservoir | 86 % full · 2,236k ac-ft | 124 km |
| Lake Nacogdoches | 85 % full · 40k ac-ft | 146 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 (0.10)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.3×0.21 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$471.1 m in deposits at 11 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,155, highly concentrated. $364.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $362.8 m, grants $1.3 m), $30,447 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| PNC Bank, National Association | $157.3 m · 33.4% share · 3 offices | |
| First Financial Bank | $103.9 m · 22.1% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $79.6 m · 16.9% share · 1 office | |
| Hardin, TX | $364.2 m FY2026 · $30,447/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| PNC Bank, National Association | $157,333,000 | 33.4% | 3 |
| First Financial Bank | $103,931,000 | 22.1% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $79,561,000 | 16.9% | 1 |
| Stellar Bank | $61,661,000 | 13.1% | 2 |
| Citizens Bank | $34,943,000 | 7.4% | 2 |
| The First Security Bank | $29,900,000 | 6.3% | 1 |
| Bridge City State Bank | $3,748,000 | 0.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,155 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 33.4² + 22.1² + 16.9² + … (4 more) = 2,155
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 #
That is $30,447 per covered job, against 11,962 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $364.2 m / 11,962 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $30,447
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 #
Hardin County, TX: 10 findings, 3 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchHardin County, TX's covered employment is -2.2% 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 = -2.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchHardin County, TX's average weekly wage is -0.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -0.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHardin County, TX's typical home value of +1.9% scores 38 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 69 across Texas counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |38 across US counties - 69 across Texas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteHardin County, TX's covered employment was 2.2% 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
- -2.2 % = 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
noteHardin County, TX's typical asking rent rose 0.7% from $1,690 in July 2026 to $1,701 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.7% = (1701.2222222222224 - 1689.7844633272557) / 1689.7844633272557 × 100
- 1701.2222222222224 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1689.7844633272557 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
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.