Wise County, VA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.97, -82.62.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 9th pct · 2,759th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 4th pct · 127th of 133 Virginia counties · median $307,999
- 35th pct · 1,969th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 22nd pct · 103rd of 133 Virginia counties · median +2.9%
- US counties: not published this period
- Virginia counties: not published this period
- 56th pct · 1,401st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 53rd pct · 63rd of 133 Virginia counties · median 9,944
- 28th pct · 2,307th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 21st pct · 104th of 133 Virginia counties · median $1,048
- 14th pct · 2,626th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 6th pct · 124th of 133 Virginia counties · median 5.4
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 $133,350 (Aug 2026), +1.7% over one year, +26.5% over five
- 9th pct · 2,759th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 4th pct · 127th of 133 Virginia counties · median $307,999
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wise County, VA | $133,350 · +1.7% 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
- Virginia 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 $730 a month on $133,350 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,095 a month: 17.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $133,350 × 80% = $106,680, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $730/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $945 × 52 / 12 = $4,095) = 18% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $133,350 / ($945 × 52) = 2.7
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 #
10,825 jobs at 783 employers (2026 Q1); -2.0% jobs and +2.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 56th pct · 1,401st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 53rd pct · 63rd of 133 Virginia counties · median 9,944
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wise County, VA | 10,825 jobs · $945/wk · -2.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 1,630 | $623 | 1.55 | -4.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,470 | $994 | 0.90 | +0.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 887 | $360 | 0.91 | -10.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 708 | $627 | 1.15 | +16.1% |
| Manufacturing | 332 | $964 | 0.38 | -0.9% |
| Construction | 234 | $1,120 | 0.41 | +1.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 227 | $1,349 | 0.55 | -3.8% |
| Utilities | 203 | $2,593 | 4.75 | -1.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 197 | $1,475 | 0.45 | -8.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 158 | $819 | 0.35 | +2.6% |
| Other services | 151 | $657 | 0.47 | +2.0% |
| Information | 44 | $1,322 | 0.22 | +2.3% |
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 #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
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: 0, 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.
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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$606.3 m in deposits at 11 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,250, highly concentrated. $335.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $304.2 m, grants $28.6 m), $30,992 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The First Bank and Trust Company | $184.0 m · 30.4% share · 1 office | |
| Powell Valley National Bank | $159.3 m · 26.3% share · 2 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $126.8 m · 20.9% share · 2 offices | |
| Wise, VA | $335.5 m FY2026 · $30,992/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $287.8 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The First Bank and Trust Company | $184,025,000 | 30.4% | 1 |
| Powell Valley National Bank | $159,301,000 | 26.3% | 2 |
| Truist Bank | $126,803,000 | 20.9% | 2 |
| Miners Exchange Bank | $71,325,000 | 11.8% | 4 |
| TruPoint Bank | $42,158,000 | 7.0% | 1 |
| Farmers and Miners Bank | $22,671,000 | 3.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,250 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 = 30.4² + 26.3² + 20.9² + … (3 more) = 2,250
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 | $246,819,656 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $28,275,578 |
| Department of Transportation | $20,994,688 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $11,149,398 |
| Department of Education | $8,996,824 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $8,912,069 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $6,472,135 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,951,268 |
| Department of Justice | $1,626,805 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $189,188 |
| Department of Defense | $85,494 |
| Department of Homeland Security | -$81 |
That is $30,992 per covered job, against 10,825 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $335.5 m / 10,825 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $30,992
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 #
Wise County, VA: 7 findings, 1 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchWise County, VA's covered employment is -2.0% 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 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteWise County, VA's average weekly wage was 2.6% 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
- +2.6 % = 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
noteWise County, VA's covered employment was 2.0% 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 % = 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
noteWise County, VA's typical home value of $133,350 ranks 127th of 133 Virginia counties, against a median of $307,999.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 5 on the 0-to-100 scale across 133 Virginia counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteWise County, VA's years of wages of 2.7 ranks 124th of 133 Virginia counties, against a median of 5.4.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 7 on the 0-to-100 scale across 133 Virginia 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 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.