Hancock County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.52, -80.57.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 14th pct · 2,625th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 91st pct · 258th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 94th pct · 4th of 55 West Virginia counties · median +3.3%
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 1st pct · 1,379th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 12th pct · 15th of 17 West Virginia counties · median $1,059
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 50th pct · 1,609th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 64th pct · 20th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 61st pct · 1,236th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 55th pct · 25th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 11th pct · 2,722nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 40th pct · 33rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.8
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville 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 $145,274 (Aug 2026), +8.2% over one year, +23.7% over five
- 14th pct · 2,625th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hancock County, WV | $145,274 · +8.2% 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 #
Typical rent $803/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 15.1
- 1st pct · 1,379th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 12th pct · 15th of 17 West Virginia counties · median $1,059
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hancock County, WV | $803/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 $795 a month on $145,274 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,749 a month: 16.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $145,274 × 80% = $116,219, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $795/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,096 × 52 / 12 = $4,749) = 17% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $145,274 / ($1,096 × 52) = 2.5
- price-to-rent = $145,274 / ($803 × 12) = 15.1
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 #
8,250 jobs at 976 employers (2026 Q1); -4.7% jobs and +6.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 50th pct · 1,609th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 64th pct · 20th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Weirton-Steubenville metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hancock County, WV | 8,250 jobs · $1,096/wk · -4.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 1,293 | $1,421 | 1.95 | -0.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,238 | $562 | 1.67 | -5.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,069 | $1,031 | 0.86 | +5.7% |
| Retail trade | 688 | $546 | 0.86 | -11.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 514 | $2,199 | 0.90 | -5.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 261 | $1,488 | 0.75 | -4.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 245 | $1,355 | 0.73 | -33.4% |
| Other services | 240 | $582 | 0.97 | -16.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 192 | $433 | 1.41 | -1.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 189 | $1,099 | 0.40 | -20.3% |
| Wholesale trade | 142 | $1,449 | 0.45 | -38.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 99 | $1,155 | 0.78 | +0.0% |
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 #
3 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park, PA | 1,190 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 62 km |
| Loyalhanna Creek Lake, PA | 3,652 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 95 km |
| Pymatuning Reservoir at Pymatuning Dam, PA | 1,008 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 109 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 #
103 gauges · 0 flooding · 25 with quality panels averaging 93 % · 23 stale
Sites found: 103, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brushy Fork above Clendening Lake OH | stage 1.71 ft · quality 50 % (2) | 57 km |
| Standingstone Fork above Tappan Lake OH | stage 4.66 ft · quality 50 % (2) | 51 km |
| Stillwater Creek above Piedmont Lake OH | stage 1.45 ft · quality 50 % (2) | 67 km |
| OHIO R AT NEW CUMBERLAND LOCK & DAM (LOWER), OH | stage 13.3 ft | 5 km |
| OHIO R AT NEW CUMBERLAND LOCK & DAM (UPPER), OH | stage 13.0 ft | 5 km |
| KINGS CREEK AT WEIRTON, WV | flow 16.3 ft³/s | 9 km |
| Traverse Creek near Kendall, PA | flow 4.95 ft³/s · STALE | 10 km |
| Yellow Creek near Hammondsville OH | flow 42.2 ft³/s | 13 km |
| Little Beaver Creek near East Liverpool OH | flow 195.0 ft³/s | 18 km |
| Ohio River at Montgomery Lock & Dam, Lower Pool | stage 13.2 ft · quality 100 % (4) | 21 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 #
37 wells in 2 named aquifers: Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions), Pennsylvanian aquifers
Sites found: 37, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-403006080252301 | depth 8.00 ft · 2026-10-05 | 13 km |
| USGS-402419080250301 | depth 42.4 ft · 1986-07-08 | 18 km |
| USGS-401849080194501 | depth 47.5 ft · 1985-10-24 | 30 km |
| USGS-401744080185001 | depth 18.6 ft · 1985-10-24 | 33 km |
| USGS-401806080181001 | depth 90.5 ft · 1985-10-24 | 33 km |
| USGS-401216080362703 | depth 38.4 ft · 2026-10-06 | 35 km |
| Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions) | depth 15.4 ft · 2026-07-12 | 35 km |
| USGS-401323080231901 | depth 5.81 ft · 1985-10-24 | 36 km |
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 (0.03)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.07 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$602.0 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,865, highly concentrated. $212.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $208.1 m, grants $4.6 m), $25,805 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| WesBanco Bank, Inc. | $215.5 m · 35.8% share · 1 office | |
| Hancock County Savings Bank, F.S.B. | $199.2 m · 33.1% share · 2 offices | |
| United Bank | $102.6 m · 17.0% share · 2 offices | |
| Hancock, WV | $212.9 m FY2026 · $25,805/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $206.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| WesBanco Bank, Inc. | $215,526,000 | 35.8% | 1 |
| Hancock County Savings Bank, F.S.B. | $199,222,000 | 33.1% | 2 |
| United Bank | $102,628,000 | 17.0% | 2 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $84,595,000 | 14.1% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,865 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 35.8² + 33.1² + 17.0² + … (1 more) = 2,865
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 | $188,346,206 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $17,172,179 |
| Department of Transportation | $3,298,833 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $2,292,362 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $901,705 |
| National Science Foundation | $200,736 |
| Department of Defense | $149,527 |
| Department of Education | $145,820 |
| Department of Agriculture | $138,162 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $122,303 |
| Department of Justice | $75,680 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $50,000 |
That is $25,805 per covered job, against 8,250 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $212.9 m / 8,250 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,805
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 #
Hancock County, WV: 12 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertHancock County, WV's covered employment is -4.7% 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 = -4.7 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHancock County, WV's covered employment is -4.7% 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 = -4.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchHancock County, WV's typical home value of $145,274 scores 14 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 44 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 30 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 30 = |14 across US counties - 44 across West Virginia counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteHancock County, WV's average weekly wage was 6.1% 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
- +6.1 % = 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
noteHancock County, WV's covered employment was 4.7% 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
- -4.7 % = 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 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.