Rapides Parish, LA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 31.19, -92.54.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 26th pct · 2,265th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 52nd pct · 31st of 64 Louisiana counties · median $170,587
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 63rd pct · 1,131st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 74th pct · 17th of 64 Louisiana counties · median +2.5%
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 9th pct · 1,233rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 4th pct · 24th of 25 Louisiana counties · median $1,356
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 85th pct · 467th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 9th of 64 Louisiana counties · median 10,187
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 56th pct · 1,389th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 53rd pct · 30th of 64 Louisiana counties · median $1,033
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 23rd pct · 2,347th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 52nd pct · 31st of 64 Louisiana counties · median 3.0
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria 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 $172,462 (Sep 2026), +3.9% over one year, +8.5% over five
- 26th pct · 2,265th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 52nd pct · 31st of 64 Louisiana counties · median $170,587
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Rapides Parish, LA | $172,462 · +3.9% 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 $1,023/mo (Sep 2026), +3.2% over one year; price-to-rent 14.1
- 9th pct · 1,233rd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 4th pct · 24th of 25 Louisiana counties · median $1,356
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Rapides Parish, LA | $1,023/mo · +3.2% 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 $955 a month on $172,462 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,641 a month: 20.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $172,462 × 80% = $137,970, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $955/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,071 × 52 / 12 = $4,641) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $172,462 / ($1,071 × 52) = 3.1
- price-to-rent = $172,462 / ($1,023 × 12) = 14.1
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 #
56,851 jobs at 4,139 employers (2026 Q1); +0.1% jobs and +4.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 85th pct · 467th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 9th of 64 Louisiana counties · median 10,187
- counties in the Alexandria metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Alexandria metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Rapides Parish, LA | 56,851 jobs · $1,071/wk · +0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 12,185 | $1,008 | 1.42 | +0.2% |
| Retail trade | 6,911 | $685 | 1.25 | -0.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 4,910 | $406 | 0.96 | -3.3% |
| Manufacturing | 3,800 | $1,717 | 0.83 | -0.9% |
| Construction | 3,613 | $1,487 | 1.21 | +11.8% |
| Administrative and waste services | 3,285 | $885 | 1.02 | +9.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 1,718 | $1,362 | 0.44 | +1.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,700 | $1,008 | 0.71 | +17.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,357 | $1,457 | 0.62 | -7.5% |
| Other services | 1,341 | $894 | 0.79 | +2.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 1,241 | $1,258 | 0.54 | -2.7% |
| Management of companies | 764 | $4,023 | 0.80 | +19.4% |
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 #
D2 severe 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: 1, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Toledo Bend Reservoir | 85 % full · 2,236k ac-ft | 99 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 #
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 #
moderate (0.34)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.3×0.15 / 0.65
Banks & federal dollars #
$3.3 bn in deposits at 48 offices of 15 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,542, highly concentrated. $951.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $809.4 m, contracts $93.4 m), $16,738 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Red River Bank | $1.5 bn · 46.0% share · 8 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $477.5 m · 14.5% share · 4 offices | |
| The Evangeline Bank and Trust Company | $261.7 m · 7.9% share · 4 offices | |
| Rapides, LA | $951.6 m FY2026 · $16,738/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $766.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red River Bank | $1,516,223,000 | 46.0% | 8 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $477,454,000 | 14.5% | 4 |
| The Evangeline Bank and Trust Company | $261,735,000 | 7.9% | 4 |
| First Federal Bank of Louisiana | $219,956,000 | 6.7% | 3 |
| Capital One, National Association | $199,904,000 | 6.1% | 1 |
| Regions Bank | $190,675,000 | 5.8% | 3 |
| Southern Heritage Bank | $121,581,000 | 3.7% | 5 |
| Sabine State Bank and Trust Company | $116,850,000 | 3.5% | 9 |
| BOM Bank | $78,583,000 | 2.4% | 5 |
| The Huntington National Bank | $53,188,000 | 1.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,542 across 14 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 14 banks with deposits in the county = 46.0² + 14.5² + 7.9² + … (11 more) = 2,542
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 | $596,036,752 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $170,988,576 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $51,415,246 |
| Department of Transportation | $36,672,505 |
| Department of Education | $20,868,616 |
| Department of Agriculture | $18,884,554 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $18,570,329 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $12,779,516 |
| Department of Defense | $8,618,163 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $7,426,489 |
| Department of Justice | $5,188,137 |
| General Services Administration | $2,333,445 |
That is $16,738 per covered job, against 56,851 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $951.6 m / 56,851 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,738
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 #
Rapides Parish, LA: 8 findings, 1 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchRapides Parish, LA's price-to-rent ratio of 14.1 scores 19 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 71 across Louisiana counties, a gap of 52 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 52 = |19 across US counties - 71 across Louisiana 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
noteRapides Parish, LA's average weekly wage was 4.4% 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
- +4.4 % = 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
noteRapides Parish, LA's covered employment was 0.1% 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
- +0.1 % = 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
noteRapides Parish, LA's typical asking rent of $1,023 ranks 24th of 25 Louisiana counties, against a median of $1,356.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 4 on the 0-to-100 scale across 25 Louisiana counties that published rent.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteRapides Parish, LA's typical asking rent of $1,023 ranks 1,233rd of 1,358 US counties, against a median of $1,506.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 9 on the 0-to-100 scale across 1358 US counties that published rent.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 8 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.