Liberty County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 30.16, -94.84.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 53rd pct · 1,432nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 63rd pct · 90th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 0th pct · 10th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $335,489
- 8th pct · 2,812th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 21st pct · 191st of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- 0th pct · 10th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median -1.7%
- 56th pct · 603rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 70th pct · 32nd of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
- 11th pct · 9th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,780
- 71st pct · 916th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 77th pct · 57th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
- 64th pct · 1,139th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 49th pct · 129th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 11th pct · 9th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,347
- 48th pct · 1,584th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 64th pct · 88th of 243 Texas counties · median 3.6
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 4.6
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 $244,014 (Aug 2026), -2.6% over one year, +6.3% over five
- 53rd pct · 1,432nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 63rd pct · 90th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 0th pct · 10th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $335,489
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty County, TX | $244,014 · -2.6% 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 #
Typical rent $1,578/mo (Aug 2026), +2.1% over one year; price-to-rent 12.9
- 56th pct · 603rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 70th pct · 32nd of 106 Texas counties · median $1,483
- 11th pct · 9th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median $1,780
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty County, TX | $1,578/mo · +2.1% 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 $1,336 a month on $244,014 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,823 a month: 27.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $244,014 × 80% = $195,211, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,336/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,113 × 52 / 12 = $4,823) = 28% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $244,014 / ($1,113 × 52) = 4.2
- price-to-rent = $244,014 / ($1,578 × 12) = 12.9
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 #
20,288 jobs at 1,323 employers (2026 Q1); -0.3% jobs and +3.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 71st pct · 916th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 77th pct · 57th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro · median 76,883
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty County, TX | 20,288 jobs · $1,113/wk · -0.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 2,766 | $711 | 1.40 | +0.4% |
| Construction | 2,592 | $1,563 | 2.44 | +15.2% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,642 | $449 | 0.90 | -7.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,477 | $943 | 0.48 | +0.0% |
| Manufacturing | 1,166 | $1,448 | 0.71 | +8.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 908 | $1,855 | 1.06 | -5.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 556 | $1,126 | 0.48 | -0.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 346 | $1,727 | 0.42 | -3.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 337 | $1,283 | 0.43 | -3.2% |
| Educational services | 286 | $1,218 | 0.66 | +0.0% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 269 | $1,864 | 3.72 | +8.9% |
| Real estate and rental | 162 | $1,170 | 0.52 | -5.8% |
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: 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 Houston | 100 % full · 132k ac-ft | 39 km |
| Livingston Reservoir | 91 % full · 1,604k ac-ft | 55 km |
| Lake Conroe | 95 % full · 418k ac-ft | 72 km |
| B. A. Steinhagen Lake | 96 % full · 69k ac-ft | 95 km |
| Sam Rayburn Reservoir | 64 % full · 2,857k ac-ft | 123 km |
| Gibbons Creek Reservoir | 88 % full · 26k ac-ft | 127 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 (0.11)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.3×0.24 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$1.5 bn in deposits at 18 offices of 10 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,178, highly concentrated. $534.1 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $472.8 m, grants $60.5 m), $26,327 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Prosperity Bank | $555.4 m · 36.3% share · 3 offices | |
| First Liberty Bank | $375.2 m · 24.5% share · 5 offices | |
| Southside Bank | $161.6 m · 10.6% share · 1 office | |
| Liberty, TX | $534.1 m FY2026 · $26,327/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $467.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prosperity Bank | $555,361,000 | 36.3% | 3 |
| First Liberty Bank | $375,204,000 | 24.5% | 5 |
| Southside Bank | $161,643,000 | 10.6% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $135,865,000 | 8.9% | 2 |
| Stellar Bank | $72,185,000 | 4.7% | 1 |
| Texas First Bank | $66,298,000 | 4.3% | 1 |
| Woodforest National Bank | $51,898,000 | 3.4% | 2 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $47,635,000 | 3.1% | 1 |
| Austin Bank, Texas National Association | $45,049,000 | 2.9% | 1 |
| Anahuac National Bank | $20,174,000 | 1.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,178 across 10 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 10 banks with deposits in the county = 36.3² + 24.5² + 10.6² + … (7 more) = 2,178
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 | $382,935,273 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $79,398,843 |
| Department of Transportation | $56,614,382 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $5,015,343 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $3,161,692 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,712,700 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,373,525 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $1,573,088 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $125,276 |
| Department of Defense | $96,197 |
| Department of the Interior | $72,023 |
| Department of Education | $46,081 |
That is $26,327 per covered job, against 20,288 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $534.1 m / 20,288 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $26,327
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 #
Liberty County, TX: 13 findings, 2 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchLiberty County, TX's typical home value is -2.6% 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 = -2.60167930355246 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLiberty County, TX's covered employment is -0.3% 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 = -0.3 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteLiberty County, TX's average weekly wage was 3.4% 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
- +3.4 % = 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
noteLiberty County, TX's typical asking rent fell 0.7% from $1,589 in July 2026 to $1,578 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.7% = (1578.109523809524 - 1588.7727375112581) / 1588.7727375112581 × 100
- 1578.109523809524 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
- 1588.7727375112581 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-07
noteLiberty County, TX's typical home value fell 0.7% from $245,659 in July 2026 to $244,014 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.7% = (244013.54812132218 - 245658.59066309207) / 245658.59066309207 × 100
- 244013.54812132218 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 245658.59066309207 = 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.