Baltimore County, MD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.44, -76.62.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 80th pct · 583rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 34th pct · 16th of 24 Maryland counties · median $417,647
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $486,857
- 24th pct · 2,320th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 30th pct · 17th of 24 Maryland counties · median +0.8%
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median +0.8%
- 67th pct · 444th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 23rd pct · 17th of 22 Maryland counties · median $1,875
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,896
- 97th pct · 78th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 95th pct · 2nd of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median 168,782
- 92nd pct · 255th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 73rd pct · 7th of 24 Maryland counties · median $1,216
- 50th pct · 4th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,480
- 59th pct · 1,251st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 17th pct · 20th of 24 Maryland counties · median 5.8
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median 5.8
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 $358,090 (Sep 2026), +0.4% over one year, +14.5% over five
- 80th pct · 583rd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 34th pct · 16th of 24 Maryland counties · median $417,647
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $486,857
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore County, MD | $358,090 · +0.4% 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 $1,731/mo (Sep 2026), +1.8% over one year; price-to-rent 17.2
- 67th pct · 444th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 23rd pct · 17th of 22 Maryland counties · median $1,875
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,896
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore County, MD | $1,731/mo · +1.8% 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 $1,983 a month on $358,090 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,413 a month: 30.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $358,090 × 80% = $286,472, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,983/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,480 × 52 / 12 = $6,413) = 31% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $358,090 / ($1,480 × 52) = 4.7
- price-to-rent = $358,090 / ($1,731 × 12) = 17.2
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 #
362,987 jobs at 23,998 employers (2026 Q1); -1.6% jobs and +0.7% average weekly wage over the year
- 97th pct · 78th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 95th pct · 2nd of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
- 100th pct · 1st of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median 168,782
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore County, MD | 362,987 jobs · $1,480/wk · -1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 72,727 | $1,224 | 1.33 | +2.4% |
| Retail trade | 38,787 | $830 | 1.10 | -4.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 26,787 | $565 | 0.82 | -1.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 24,864 | $2,167 | 0.99 | -3.6% |
| Construction | 24,358 | $1,691 | 1.28 | +0.5% |
| Administrative and waste services | 23,713 | $1,203 | 1.15 | +2.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 15,988 | $1,068 | 1.05 | -0.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 15,882 | $3,264 | 1.07 | -6.3% |
| Manufacturing | 13,005 | $1,693 | 0.45 | +0.4% |
| Other services | 11,085 | $1,116 | 1.02 | -5.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 10,809 | $2,083 | 0.78 | -6.5% |
| Educational services | 9,684 | $991 | 1.24 | +2.1% |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
$27.0 bn in deposits at 163 offices of 25 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,279, moderately concentrated. $8.5 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $5.6 bn, contracts $2.4 bn), $23,494 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $5.5 bn · 20.4% share · 22 offices | |
| CFG Bank | $4.9 bn · 18.1% share · 1 office | |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $4.6 bn · 17.2% share · 33 offices | |
| Baltimore, MD | $8.5 bn FY2026 · $23,494/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $5.3 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $5,508,203,000 | 20.4% | 22 |
| CFG Bank | $4,887,022,000 | 18.1% | 1 |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $4,643,314,000 | 17.2% | 33 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,545,009,000 | 9.4% | 14 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $2,319,512,000 | 8.6% | 18 |
| Truist Bank | $1,416,282,000 | 5.2% | 15 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $1,248,738,000 | 4.6% | 9 |
| Rosedale Bank | $883,610,000 | 3.3% | 11 |
| Capital One, National Association | $730,418,000 | 2.7% | 1 |
| Orrstown Bank | $467,355,000 | 1.7% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 1,279 across 24 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 24 banks with deposits in the county = 20.4² + 18.1² + 17.2² + … (21 more) = 1,279
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 | $4,153,331,632 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,968,108,701 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $358,292,757 |
| Department of Transportation | $318,449,456 |
| Department of Defense | $265,912,930 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $133,707,333 |
| Department of Education | $123,597,282 |
| Department of Justice | $51,660,542 |
| General Services Administration | $40,436,274 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $31,484,208 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $22,577,540 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $18,055,727 |
That is $23,494 per covered job, against 362,987 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $8.5 bn / 362,987 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $23,494
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 #
Baltimore County, MD: 15 findings, 4 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchBaltimore County, MD's covered employment is -1.6% 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 = -1.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBaltimore County, MD's typical home value of $358,090 scores 81 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 35 across Maryland counties, a gap of 46 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 46 = |81 across US counties - 35 across Maryland counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBaltimore County, MD's typical asking rent of $1,731 scores 67 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 24 across Maryland counties, a gap of 44 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 44 = |67 across US counties - 24 across Maryland counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBaltimore County, MD's years of wages of 4.7 scores 59 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 17 across Maryland counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |59 across US counties - 17 across Maryland 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
noteBaltimore County, MD's covered employment was 1.6% 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
- -1.6 % = 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.