Garland County, AR
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.58, -93.15.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 54th pct · 1,391st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 90th pct · 8th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 25th pct · 2,284th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 27th pct · 54th of 74 Arkansas counties · median +3.0%
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 24th pct · 1,029th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 64th pct · 7th of 18 Arkansas counties · median $1,178
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 80th pct · 623rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 91st pct · 7th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 22nd pct · 2,485th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 54th pct · 35th of 75 Arkansas counties · median $912
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 66th pct · 1,015th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 89th pct · 9th of 74 Arkansas counties · median 3.5
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs 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 $243,734 (Sep 2026), +0.5% over one year, +23.1% over five
- 54th pct · 1,391st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 90th pct · 8th of 74 Arkansas counties · median $165,493
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garland County, AR | $243,734 · +0.5% 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 $1,236/mo (Sep 2026), +4.1% over one year; price-to-rent 16.4
- 24th pct · 1,029th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 64th pct · 7th of 18 Arkansas counties · median $1,178
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garland County, AR | $1,236/mo · +4.1% 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 $1,350 a month on $243,734 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,982 a month: 33.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $243,734 × 80% = $194,987, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,350/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $919 × 52 / 12 = $3,982) = 34% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $243,734 / ($919 × 52) = 5.1
- price-to-rent = $243,734 / ($1,236 × 12) = 16.4
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 #
38,344 jobs at 3,375 employers (2026 Q1); -0.8% jobs and +3.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 80th pct · 623rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 91st pct · 7th of 75 Arkansas counties · median 5,609
- counties in the Hot Springs metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Hot Springs metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garland County, AR | 38,344 jobs · $919/wk · -0.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 7,872 | $1,146 | 1.36 | -1.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 6,496 | $447 | 1.89 | +0.9% |
| Retail trade | 5,771 | $700 | 1.54 | -0.3% |
| Manufacturing | 2,177 | $1,156 | 0.71 | -3.7% |
| Construction | 2,015 | $971 | 1.00 | +2.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 1,854 | $744 | 2.94 | -2.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,751 | $715 | 0.80 | +1.0% |
| Other services | 1,177 | $743 | 1.03 | +12.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,022 | $1,189 | 0.39 | -4.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 925 | $1,735 | 0.59 | +2.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 753 | $1,324 | 0.51 | -16.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 636 | $1,159 | 0.39 | -10.9% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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 #
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 #
high (0.75)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$3.1 bn in deposits at 45 offices of 14 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,200, moderately concentrated. $909.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $803.0 m, contracts $67.0 m), $23,720 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Arvest Bank | $591.5 m · 19.0% share · 5 offices | |
| Bank OZK | $551.9 m · 17.7% share · 7 offices | |
| Regions Bank | $513.0 m · 16.4% share · 6 offices | |
| Garland, AR | $909.5 m FY2026 · $23,720/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $786.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvest Bank | $591,461,000 | 19.0% | 5 |
| Bank OZK | $551,905,000 | 17.7% | 7 |
| Regions Bank | $512,976,000 | 16.4% | 6 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $253,700,000 | 8.1% | 3 |
| Simmons Bank | $221,375,000 | 7.1% | 3 |
| Southern Bancorp Bank | $211,236,000 | 6.8% | 3 |
| First Security Bank | $153,596,000 | 4.9% | 3 |
| Chambers Bank | $148,603,000 | 4.8% | 2 |
| Diamond Bank | $133,678,000 | 4.3% | 2 |
| Relyance Bank | $117,108,000 | 3.8% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 1,200 across 14 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 14 banks with deposits in the county = 19.0² + 17.7² + 16.4² + … (11 more) = 1,200
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 | $679,667,559 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $97,049,266 |
| Department of State | $33,481,835 |
| Department of Transportation | $28,355,467 |
| Department of Defense | $25,009,485 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $12,841,439 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $8,992,514 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $8,596,046 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,671,781 |
| Department of Education | $5,194,392 |
| General Services Administration | $2,219,842 |
| Department of Justice | $1,362,084 |
That is $23,720 per covered job, against 38,344 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $909.5 m / 38,344 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $23,720
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 | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| 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 · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +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 | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| 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 | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| 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 | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
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 #
Garland County, AR: 13 findings, 5 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchGarland County, AR's covered employment is -0.8% 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 = -0.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchGarland County, AR's typical asking rent of $1,236 scores 24 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 65 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 40 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 40 = |24 across US counties - 65 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchGarland County, AR's typical home value of $243,734 scores 55 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 90 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 36 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 36 = |55 across US counties - 90 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchGarland County, AR's price-to-rent ratio of 16.4 scores 44 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 76 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |44 across US counties - 76 across Arkansas counties|
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchGarland County, AR's average weekly wage of $919 scores 23 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 54 across Arkansas counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |23 across US counties - 54 across Arkansas counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; 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.