Fayette County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.03, -81.09.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 11th pct · 2,698th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 35th pct · 36th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 59th pct · 1,229th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 57th pct · 24th of 55 West Virginia counties · median +3.3%
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 1st pct · 1,375th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 18th pct · 14th of 17 West Virginia counties · median $1,059
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 54th pct · 1,457th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 70th pct · 17th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 29th pct · 2,280th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 24th pct · 42nd of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 16th pct · 2,566th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 51st pct · 27th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.8
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley 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 $139,999 (Aug 2026), +3.8% over one year, +34.8% over five
- 11th pct · 2,698th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 35th pct · 36th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fayette County, WV | $139,999 · +3.8% 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 $813/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 14.4
- 1st pct · 1,375th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 18th pct · 14th of 17 West Virginia counties · median $1,059
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fayette County, WV | $813/mo · n/a 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 $766 a month on $139,999 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,112 a month: 18.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $139,999 × 80% = $111,999, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $766/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $949 × 52 / 12 = $4,112) = 19% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $139,999 / ($949 × 52) = 2.8
- price-to-rent = $139,999 / ($813 × 12) = 14.4
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 #
9,795 jobs at 1,224 employers (2026 Q1); -2.1% jobs and +2.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 54th pct · 1,457th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 70th pct · 17th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Beckley metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Beckley metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fayette County, WV | 9,795 jobs · $949/wk · -2.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 2,094 | $974 | 1.42 | +0.1% |
| Retail trade | 1,278 | $630 | 1.34 | +2.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 961 | $388 | 1.09 | -0.8% |
| Manufacturing | 412 | $1,324 | 0.52 | -7.2% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 369 | $1,781 | 10.58 | +12.2% |
| Other services | 333 | $912 | 1.14 | -12.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 256 | $1,459 | 0.38 | +15.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 240 | $1,406 | 0.64 | -26.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 208 | $528 | 1.29 | -13.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 197 | $1,282 | 0.49 | -1.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 191 | $1,036 | 0.46 | -6.8% |
| Utilities | 89 | $2,432 | 2.30 | +3.5% |
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 #
$619.3 m in deposits at 12 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,768, moderately concentrated. $335.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $296.5 m, grants $28.8 m), $34,260 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| United Bank | $147.9 m · 23.9% share · 3 offices | |
| The Fayette County National Bank of Fayetteville | $134.8 m · 21.8% share · 2 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $90.7 m · 14.7% share · 1 office | |
| Fayette, WV | $335.6 m FY2026 · $34,260/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $293.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Bank | $147,902,000 | 23.9% | 3 |
| The Fayette County National Bank of Fayetteville | $134,753,000 | 21.8% | 2 |
| Truist Bank | $90,735,000 | 14.7% | 1 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $84,723,000 | 13.7% | 1 |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $83,166,000 | 13.4% | 2 |
| Pendleton Community Bank, Inc. | $73,571,000 | 11.9% | 2 |
| Woodforest National Bank | $4,412,000 | 0.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,768 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 23.9² + 21.8² + 14.7² + … (4 more) = 1,768
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 | $241,764,670 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $48,451,121 |
| Department of Transportation | $23,825,483 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $6,495,350 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,820,750 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $3,037,776 |
| Department of Defense | $2,752,860 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,283,845 |
| Department of the Interior | $1,516,194 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $1,031,935 |
| General Services Administration | $252,369 |
| Department of Education | $244,698 |
That is $34,260 per covered job, against 9,795 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $335.6 m / 9,795 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $34,260
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 #
Fayette County, WV: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchFayette County, WV's covered employment is -2.1% 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 = -2.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchFayette County, WV's years of wages of 2.8 scores 16 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 52 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 36 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 36 = |16 across US counties - 52 across West Virginia counties|
- 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
noteFayette County, WV's average weekly wage was 2.7% 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
- +2.7 % = 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
noteFayette County, WV's covered employment was 2.1% 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
- -2.1 % = 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
noteFayette County, WV's typical home value rose 0.6% from $139,214 in July 2026 to $139,999 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (139999.22319902247 - 139213.88859698872) / 139213.88859698872 × 100
- 139999.22319902247 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 139213.88859698872 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 9 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.