Starr County, TX
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 26.53, -98.74.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 14th pct · 2,623rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 20th pct · 194th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
- 31st pct · 2,112th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 62nd pct · 92nd of 243 Texas counties · median +0.0%
- US counties: not published this period
- Texas counties: not published this period
- 65th pct · 1,107th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 72nd pct · 70th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
- 6th pct · 3,026th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 2nd pct · 248th of 254 Texas counties · median $1,115
- 31st pct · 2,085th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 46th pct · 130th 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 $145,428 (Aug 2026), +1.2% over one year, -17.6% over five
- 14th pct · 2,623rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 20th pct · 194th of 243 Texas counties · median $215,660
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Starr County, TX | $145,428 · +1.2% 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 $796 a month on $145,428 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,449 a month: 23.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $145,428 × 80% = $116,342, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $796/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $796 × 52 / 12 = $3,449) = 23% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $145,428 / ($796 × 52) = 3.5
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 #
15,613 jobs at 675 employers (2026 Q1); +3.1% jobs and +3.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 65th pct · 1,107th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 72nd pct · 70th of 254 Texas counties · median 6,022
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Starr County, TX | 15,613 jobs · $796/wk · +3.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 1,982 | $591 | 1.30 | +5.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,170 | $349 | 0.83 | +2.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 317 | $1,048 | 0.48 | +0.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 269 | $894 | 0.42 | -0.4% |
| Construction | 189 | $1,604 | 0.23 | +1.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 123 | $833 | 0.11 | +0.8% |
| Utilities | 120 | $1,646 | 1.95 | +5.3% |
| Other services | 89 | $580 | 0.19 | +14.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 88 | $569 | 0.15 | +22.2% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 68 | $1,118 | 0.60 | +9.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 55 | $506 | 0.21 | +10.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 30 | $605 | 0.13 | +11.1% |
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 #
20 % of conservation capacity, weighted over 1 TWDB reservoirs
Sites found: 3, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Falcon Reservoir | 20 % full · 1,562k ac-ft | 42 km |
| Town Resaca at E 6th St, Brownsville, TX | 54.4 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 142 km |
| Resaca del Rancho Viejo, Brownsville, TX | 125.2 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 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 #
12 gauges · 0 flooding · 5 with quality panels averaging 80 %
Sites found: 12, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Grande at Rio Grande City | no flooding | 19 km |
| Rio Grande nr Rio Grande City, TX | temp 27.9 °C · quality 75 % (2) | 20 km |
| Rio Grande at Roma | no readings | 31 km |
| Rio Grande at Roma, TX | temp 28.6 °C · quality 100 % (2) | 31 km |
| Rio Grande near Los Ebanos | no readings | 37 km |
| Rio Grande Below Falcon Reservoir | no readings | 43 km |
| Rio Grande at Falcon Lake | no flooding | 43 km |
| Rio Grande at Mission Main Canal nr Mission, TX | temp 28.9 °C · quality 75 % (2) | 51 km |
| Rio Grande nr Mission, TX | temp 28.4 °C · quality 75 % (2) | 55 km |
| Rio Grande at Anzalduas Dam nr Hidalgo, TX | temp 29.0 °C · quality 75 % (2) | 60 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 #
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 #
high (0.53)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.80 + 0.2×0.20 / 0.85
Banks & federal dollars #
$643.4 m in deposits at 15 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,455, highly concentrated. $2.7 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $2.5 bn, direct payments $182.1 m), $173,648 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lone Star National Bank | $241.6 m · 37.6% share · 4 offices | |
| International Bank of Commerce | $152.4 m · 23.7% share · 4 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $104.1 m · 16.2% share · 2 offices | |
| Starr, TX | $2.7 bn FY2026 · $173,648/job | |
| SPENCER CONSTRUCTION LLC | $1.7 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lone Star National Bank | $241,603,000 | 37.6% | 4 |
| International Bank of Commerce | $152,437,000 | 23.7% | 4 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $104,122,000 | 16.2% | 2 |
| Texas National Bank | $75,385,000 | 11.7% | 2 |
| Rio Bank | $57,983,000 | 9.0% | 2 |
| Texas Regional Bank | $11,834,000 | 1.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,455 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 37.6² + 23.7² + 16.2² + … (3 more) = 2,455
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 Homeland Security | $2,519,053,096 |
| Social Security Administration | $163,797,201 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $17,500,000 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $14,461,869 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,117,408 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,941,931 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $882,417 |
| Department of State | $770,198 |
| Department of Defense | $221,225 |
| Department of Justice | $110,326 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $89,837 |
| Department of Education | $11,672 |
That is $173,648 per covered job, against 15,613 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.7 bn / 15,613 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $173,648
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 #
Starr County, TX: 7 findings, 1 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchStarr County, TX's typical home value of +1.2% scores 31 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 62 across Texas counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |31 across US counties - 62 across Texas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteStarr County, TX's average weekly wage was 3.1% 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
- +3.1 % = 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
noteStarr County, TX's covered employment was 3.1% 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
- +3.1 % = 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
noteStarr County, TX's typical home value fell 0.9% from $146,757 in July 2026 to $145,428 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.9% = (145427.95949787262 - 146756.92334669887) / 146756.92334669887 × 100
- 145427.95949787262 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 146756.92334669887 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteStarr County, TX's average weekly wage of $796 ranks 248th of 254 Texas counties, against a median of $1,115.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 2 on the 0-to-100 scale across 254 Texas counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 7 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.