Lincoln County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.17, -82.08.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 3rd pct · 2,962nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 50th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- 0th pct · 3,039th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 1st pct · 54th of 55 West Virginia counties · median +3.3%
- US counties: not published this period
- West Virginia counties: not published this period
- 20th pct · 2,552nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 44th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- 8th pct · 2,957th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 5th pct · 52nd of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- 9th pct · 2,772nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 37th pct · 35th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.8
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 $103,827 (Aug 2026), -11.6% over one year, -8.0% over five
- 3rd pct · 2,962nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 50th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, WV | $103,827 · -11.6% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- West 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 $568 a month on $103,827 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,540 a month: 16.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $103,827 × 80% = $83,062, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $568/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $817 × 52 / 12 = $3,540) = 16% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $103,827 / ($817 × 52) = 2.4
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 #
2,546 jobs at 332 employers (2026 Q1); -2.5% jobs and +6.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 20th pct · 2,552nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 44th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, WV | 2,546 jobs · $817/wk · -2.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 261 | $486 | 1.05 | +2.8% |
| Construction | 187 | $1,366 | 1.40 | +27.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 79 | $1,039 | 0.74 | +12.9% |
| Other services | 61 | $883 | 0.80 | +1.7% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 39 | $1,711 | 4.30 | -25.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 29 | $966 | 0.17 | +11.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 28 | $654 | 0.19 | -20.0% |
| Information | 25 | $1,819 | 0.53 | +4.2% |
| Manufacturing | 9 | $209 | 0.04 | -10.0% |
| Unclassified | 0 | $0 | 0.00 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld |
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 #
$200.3 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,326, highly concentrated. $144.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $137.1 m, grants $7.5 m), $56,841 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $81.8 m · 40.8% share · 2 offices | |
| Community Trust Bank, Inc. | $75.7 m · 37.8% share · 2 offices | |
| Peoples Bank | $23.2 m · 11.6% share · 1 office | |
| Lincoln, WV | $144.7 m FY2026 · $56,841/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $134.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $81,805,000 | 40.8% | 2 |
| Community Trust Bank, Inc. | $75,676,000 | 37.8% | 2 |
| Peoples Bank | $23,241,000 | 11.6% | 1 |
| Logan Bank & Trust Company | $19,556,000 | 9.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,326 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 = 40.8² + 37.8² + 11.6² + … (1 more) = 3,326
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 | $117,384,847 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $12,621,187 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $4,361,894 |
| Department of Transportation | $4,319,567 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,600,109 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $2,077,783 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,057,452 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $295,428 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $56,841 per covered job, against 2,546 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $144.7 m / 2,546 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $56,841
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 #
Lincoln County, WV: 18 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 13 noted
alertLincoln County, WV's typical home value is -11.6% against a year earlier, an alert level here: typical home value at least 5 percent below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -11.554853939207455 <= -5
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLincoln County, WV's typical home value is -11.6% 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 = -11.554853939207455 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLincoln County, WV's covered employment is -2.5% 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 = -2.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLincoln County, WV's momentum index is -0.35, a watch level here: momentum index in the cooling band (the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: momentum = -0.3529411764705883 <= -0.25
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
the cooling band of the momentum index computed here, score at or below -0.25; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLincoln County, WV's typical home value is -1.0% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.momPct = -1.0090939881825012 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
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.