Baltimore city, MD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.30, -76.61.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 30th pct · 2,121st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 4th pct · 23rd of 24 Maryland counties · median $417,647
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $486,857
- 5th pct · 2,898th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 24th of 24 Maryland counties · median +0.8%
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median +0.8%
- 70th pct · 402nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 28th pct · 16th of 22 Maryland counties · median $1,875
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,896
- 97th pct · 84th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 91st pct · 3rd of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
- 83rd pct · 2nd of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median 168,782
- 97th pct · 97th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 86th pct · 4th of 24 Maryland counties · median $1,216
- 83rd pct · 2nd of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,480
- 4th pct · 2,938th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 0th pct · 24th of 24 Maryland counties · median 5.8
- 0th pct · 7th 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 $181,356 (Sep 2026), -3.9% over one year, +6.3% over five
- 30th pct · 2,121st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 4th pct · 23rd of 24 Maryland counties · median $417,647
- 0th pct · 7th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $486,857
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore city, MD | $181,356 · -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 $1,764/mo (Sep 2026), +3.5% over one year; price-to-rent 8.6
- 70th pct · 402nd of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 28th pct · 16th of 22 Maryland counties · median $1,875
- 16th pct · 6th of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median $1,896
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore city, MD | $1,764/mo · +3.5% 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 $1,005 a month on $181,356 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $7,696 a month: 13.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $181,356 × 80% = $145,085, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,005/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,776 × 52 / 12 = $7,696) = 13% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $181,356 / ($1,776 × 52) = 2.0
- price-to-rent = $181,356 / ($1,764 × 12) = 8.6
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 #
342,411 jobs at 15,412 employers (2026 Q1); -1.2% jobs and +1.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 97th pct · 84th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 91st pct · 3rd of 24 Maryland counties · median 44,580
- 83rd pct · 2nd of 7 counties in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro · median 168,782
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore city, MD | 342,411 jobs · $1,776/wk · -1.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 79,367 | $1,627 | 1.54 | +2.6% |
| Educational services | 28,960 | $1,828 | 3.93 | -2.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 21,030 | $2,539 | 0.89 | -3.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 20,123 | $646 | 0.65 | +2.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 19,589 | $1,173 | 1.01 | -1.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 13,951 | $1,215 | 0.97 | -21.9% |
| Retail trade | 12,565 | $798 | 0.38 | -3.7% |
| Other services | 10,201 | $1,189 | 1.00 | +1.9% |
| Manufacturing | 10,174 | $1,653 | 0.37 | -3.6% |
| Finance and insurance | 9,963 | $4,803 | 0.71 | +1.4% |
| Management of companies | 6,999 | $2,100 | 1.22 | +5.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 6,141 | $1,726 | 0.47 | +0.5% |
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 #
$42.5 bn in deposits at 95 offices of 19 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,927, highly concentrated. $5.3 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (grants $2.6 bn, contracts $2.4 bn), $15,520 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $19.0 bn · 44.7% share · 11 offices | |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $11.3 bn · 26.6% share · 18 offices | |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $4.3 bn · 10.2% share · 10 offices | |
| Baltimore (City), MD | $5.3 bn FY2026 · $15,520/job | |
| THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY | $1.0 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America, National Association | $19,003,000,000 | 44.7% | 11 |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | $11,309,399,000 | 26.6% | 18 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $4,339,478,000 | 10.2% | 10 |
| Truist Bank | $3,950,628,000 | 9.3% | 10 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,175,737,000 | 5.1% | 13 |
| First National Bank of Pennsylvania | $342,889,000 | 0.8% | 3 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $284,514,000 | 0.7% | 7 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $248,091,000 | 0.6% | 1 |
| The Harbor Bank of Maryland | $239,919,000 | 0.6% | 5 |
| Fulton Bank, National Association | $220,186,000 | 0.5% | 5 |
Deposit concentration is 2,927 across 17 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 17 banks with deposits in the county = 44.7² + 26.6² + 10.2² + … (14 more) = 2,927
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 | $3,196,549,215 |
| Department of Education | $866,288,883 |
| Department of Defense | $734,487,642 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $669,100,532 |
| Department of Transportation | $383,492,628 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $368,857,063 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $293,555,208 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $151,124,803 |
| Department of Commerce | $37,112,826 |
| National Science Foundation | $35,754,208 |
| General Services Administration | $27,739,804 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $25,360,939 |
That is $15,520 per covered job, against 342,411 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $5.3 bn / 342,411 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $15,520
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 city, MD: 25 findings, 3 at a watch level and 22 noted
watchBaltimore city, MD's typical home value is -3.9% 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 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -3.8530238962573446 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchBaltimore city, MD's covered employment is -1.2% 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 = -1.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBaltimore city, MD's typical asking rent of $1,764 scores 70 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 29 across Maryland counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |70 across US counties - 29 across Maryland counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBaltimore city, MD's average weekly wage was 1.4% 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
- +1.4 % = 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
noteBaltimore city, MD's covered employment was 1.2% 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
- -1.2 % = 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.