Santa Clara County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.22, -121.69.
Assembled 2026-10-20. Read the brief.
- 99th pct · 6th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 98th pct · 2nd of 58 California counties · median $494,569
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 23rd pct · 2,333rd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 49th pct · 30th of 58 California counties · median +0.4%
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 9th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 93rd pct · 4th of 48 California counties · median $2,448
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 12th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 4th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 3rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 98th pct · 2nd of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 86th pct · 405th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 36th pct · 37th of 58 California counties · median 7.2
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 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 $1.6 m (Sep 2026), +0.3% over one year, +16.8% over five
- 99th pct · 6th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 98th pct · 2nd of 58 California counties · median $494,569
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | $1.6 m · +0.3% 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 $3,817/mo (Sep 2026), +8.4% over one year; price-to-rent 34.1
- 99th pct · 9th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 93rd pct · 4th of 48 California counties · median $2,448
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | $3,817/mo · +8.4% 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 $8,656 a month on $1,562,682 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $19,266 a month: 44.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $1.6 m × 80% = $1.3 m, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $8,656/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $4,446 × 52 / 12 = $19,266) = 45% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $1.6 m / ($4,446 × 52) = 6.8
- price-to-rent = $1.6 m / ($3,817 × 12) = 34.1
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 #
1.13 m jobs at 89,281 employers (2026 Q1); +1.2% jobs and +8.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 99th pct · 12th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 94th pct · 4th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County, CA | 1.13 m jobs · $4,446/wk · +1.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 161,719 | $1,707 | 0.95 | +3.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 153,673 | $6,959 | 1.98 | -0.6% |
| Manufacturing | 124,467 | $8,120 | 1.37 | +0.6% |
| Information | 88,997 | $13,422 | 4.29 | -5.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 82,849 | $775 | 0.82 | -0.2% |
| Retail trade | 69,272 | $1,429 | 0.63 | -0.4% |
| Management of companies | 62,583 | $6,351 | 3.32 | +8.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 58,417 | $1,486 | 0.91 | +5.0% |
| Construction | 50,892 | $2,295 | 0.86 | +3.6% |
| Educational services | 45,135 | $2,093 | 1.86 | -1.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 26,820 | $4,073 | 0.62 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 26,496 | $1,193 | 0.79 | +1.2% |
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 #
$174.1 bn in deposits at 286 offices of 42 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,529, moderately concentrated. $13.2 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $8.3 bn, contracts $3.9 bn), $11,743 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $43.6 bn · 25.0% share · 3 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $36.8 bn · 21.1% share · 45 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $25.7 bn · 14.7% share · 43 offices | |
| Santa Clara, CA | $13.2 bn FY2026 · $11,743/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $7.4 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $43,601,042,000 | 25.0% | 3 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $36,787,449,000 | 21.1% | 45 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $25,658,555,000 | 14.7% | 43 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $22,517,936,000 | 12.9% | 49 |
| Citibank, National Association | $7,807,000,000 | 4.5% | 22 |
| Western Alliance Bank | $7,640,467,000 | 4.4% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $5,846,225,000 | 3.4% | 28 |
| Fifth Third Bank, National Association | $5,367,356,000 | 3.1% | 12 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $3,111,383,000 | 1.8% | 23 |
| East West Bank | $2,753,983,000 | 1.6% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 1,529 across 41 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 41 banks with deposits in the county = 25.0² + 21.1² + 14.7² + … (38 more) = 1,529
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 | $6,868,615,023 |
| Department of Defense | $2,589,241,447 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,095,450,645 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $685,867,665 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $612,450,671 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $412,176,606 |
| Department of Energy | $298,245,063 |
| Department of Transportation | $196,465,013 |
| Department of Education | $192,256,433 |
| Department of State | $76,600,793 |
| National Science Foundation | $61,742,057 |
| General Services Administration | $36,287,953 |
That is $11,743 per covered job, against 1,126,059 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $13.2 bn / 1.13 m covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $11,743
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.
Public companies #
3 public companies file with the SEC from a business address here (Apple Inc., HP Inc, NVIDIA Corp). These rows are a committed fixture, not a pull: the snapshot has never been refreshed, so every financial fact is null and the list is not a complete census of filers in this county. The county's jobs mix maps to 10 GICS sectors, led by Communication Services.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | AAPL · Nasdaq · Information Technology · Cupertino, CA 95014 | |
| HP Inc | HPQ · NYSE · Information Technology · Palo Alto, CA 94304 | |
| NVIDIA Corp | NVDA · Nasdaq · Information Technology · Santa Clara, CA 95051 |
This is a committed fixture, not a pull: 3 filers are named and their financial facts are empty until the snapshot is refreshed. An absent company is not evidence that none is headquartered here.
Public filers whose registered business address with the SEC falls in this county, from a committed snapshot of EDGAR's company_tickers_exchange file. A position is the centroid of the address's ZIP code (Census ZCTA) or, where the snapshot says so, of its city: it is not a building. Legal entities only - no officer, insider or shareholder data is read, and Forms 3, 4 and 5 are excluded everywhere. Sector exposure is the county's BLS QCEW jobs mix bridged to GICS sectors by a convention documented in lib/companies/sectors.ts; a jobs mix is not a portfolio.
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 | 17.40 | 2026-10-19 | -3.1% |
| 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 | 2026-10-20 | +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 #
Santa Clara County, CA: 19 findings, 4 at a watch level and 15 noted
watchSanta Clara County, CA's price-to-rent ratio of 34.1 ranks 6th of 1,358 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent percentile = 99.63154016212233 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchSanta Clara County, CA's price-to-rent ratio is 34.1, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent = 34.11446502913939 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSanta Clara County, CA's typical asking rent is +8.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 8 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; 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 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: rent.yoyPct = 8.385275654983184 >= 8
arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSanta Clara County, CA's years of wages of 6.8 scores 87 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 37 across California counties, a gap of 50 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 50 = |87 across US counties - 37 across California 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
noteSanta Clara County, CA's average weekly wage was 8.4% 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
- +8.4 % = 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.