Lavaca County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 29.38, -96.92.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 68th pct · 959th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 78th pct · 52nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 34th pct · 2,013th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 65th pct · 85th of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 41st pct · 1,890th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 130th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 45th pct · 1,734th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 31st pct · 175th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 73rd pct · 816th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 83rd pct · 40th 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 $296,602 (Aug 2026), +1.5% over one year, +7.9% over five
- 68th pct · 959th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 78th pct · 52nd of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lavaca County, TX | $296,602 · +1.5% 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 $1,624 a month on $296,602 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,429 a month: 36.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $296,602 × 80% = $237,281, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,624/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,022 × 52 / 12 = $4,429) = 37% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $296,602 / ($1,022 × 52) = 5.6
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 #
5,837 jobs at 481 employers (2026 Q1); -3.7% jobs and +6.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 41st pct · 1,890th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 49th pct · 130th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lavaca County, TX | 5,837 jobs · $1,022/wk · -3.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 934 | $1,021 | 1.99 | +6.4% |
| Retail trade | 682 | $636 | 1.20 | -7.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 565 | $1,330 | 2.53 | +1.8% |
| Construction | 340 | $1,337 | 1.11 | -3.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 199 | $464 | 0.38 | -33.2% |
| Other services | 150 | $840 | 0.86 | -2.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 125 | $1,770 | 0.53 | -12.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 116 | $1,201 | 0.29 | -6.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 70 | $699 | 1.66 | -7.9% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 58 | $2,718 | 2.79 | -10.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 30 | $1,361 | 0.34 | +7.1% |
| Information | 15 | $594 | 0.14 | -73.7% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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: 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Texana | 89 % full · 159k ac-ft | 64 km |
| Coleto Creek Reservoir | 75 % full · 31k ac-ft | 76 km |
| Somerville Lake | 91 % full · 150k ac-ft | 111 km |
| Lake Austin | 97 % full · 24k ac-ft | 133 km |
| Canyon Lake | 98 % full · 379k ac-ft | 135 km |
| Lake Travis | 95 % full · 1,098k ac-ft | 147 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 #
moderate (0.43)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 + 0.3×0.06 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$984.6 m in deposits at 10 offices of 8 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,487, highly concentrated. $143.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $138.4 m, grants $4.8 m), $24,537 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Peoples State Bank of Hallettsville | $359.1 m · 36.5% share · 1 office | |
| SouthStar Bank, S.S.B. | $267.3 m · 27.2% share · 2 offices | |
| The Huntington National Bank | $179.2 m · 18.2% share · 1 office | |
| Lavaca, TX | $143.2 m FY2026 · $24,537/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $137.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoples State Bank of Hallettsville | $359,078,000 | 36.5% | 1 |
| SouthStar Bank, S.S.B. | $267,320,000 | 27.2% | 2 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $179,235,000 | 18.2% | 1 |
| Crossroads Bank | $69,439,000 | 7.1% | 2 |
| Prosperity Bank | $39,542,000 | 4.0% | 1 |
| Sage Capital Bank, | $35,952,000 | 3.7% | 1 |
| The First State Bank | $30,236,000 | 3.1% | 1 |
| First Lockhart Bank | $3,769,000 | 0.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,487 across 8 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 8 banks with deposits in the county = 36.5² + 27.2² + 18.2² + … (5 more) = 2,487
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 | $121,616,863 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $15,091,556 |
| Department of Transportation | $4,749,802 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $938,425 |
| Department of Agriculture | $647,767 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $141,923 |
| Department of Education | $68,644 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $24,451 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of Defense | -$2,619 |
| Department of the Interior | -$55,238 |
That is $24,537 per covered job, against 5,837 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $143.2 m / 5,837 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $24,537
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 #
Lavaca County, TX: 6 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 3 noted
alertLavaca County, TX's covered employment is -3.7% 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 = -3.7 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLavaca County, TX's covered employment is -3.7% 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 = -3.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLavaca County, TX's typical home value of +1.5% scores 34 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 65 across Texas counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |34 across US counties - 65 across Texas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLavaca County, TX's average weekly wage was 6.5% 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
- +6.5 % = 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
noteLavaca County, TX's covered employment was 3.7% 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
- -3.7 % = 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 6 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.