Merrick County, NE
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.17, -98.03.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 48th pct · 1,567th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 35th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $214,386
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 48th pct · 1,590th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 39th pct · 54th of 89 Nebraska counties · median +3.5%
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 19th pct · 2,591st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 57th pct · 40th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 37th pct · 1,998th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 53rd pct · 44th of 93 Nebraska counties · median $970
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 54th pct · 1,379th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 65th pct · 31st of 89 Nebraska counties · median 4.0
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island 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 $228,260 (Sep 2026), +2.7% over one year, +31.8% over five
- 48th pct · 1,567th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 61st pct · 35th of 89 Nebraska counties · median $214,386
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Merrick County, NE | $228,260 · +2.7% 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 #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Nebraska counties: not published this period
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $1,264 a month on $228,260 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,268 a month: 29.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $228,260 × 80% = $182,608, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,264/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $985 × 52 / 12 = $4,268) = 30% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $228,260 / ($985 × 52) = 4.5
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 #
2,385 jobs at 271 employers (2026 Q1); +5.1% jobs and +4.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 19th pct · 2,591st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 57th pct · 40th of 93 Nebraska counties · median 2,151
- counties in the Grand Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Grand Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Merrick County, NE | 2,385 jobs · $985/wk · +5.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 282 | $1,302 | 2.26 | +3.3% |
| Manufacturing | 227 | $1,283 | 1.18 | +4.6% |
| Retail trade | 190 | $556 | 0.82 | +5.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 180 | $1,127 | 1.97 | -3.2% |
| Accommodation and food services | 108 | $285 | 0.50 | -11.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 87 | $1,373 | 0.90 | +6.1% |
| Professional and technical services | 48 | $1,195 | 0.29 | +6.7% |
| Other services | 47 | $727 | 0.66 | -2.1% |
| Real estate and rental | 33 | $1,228 | 0.90 | +94.1% |
| Information | 20 | $1,289 | 0.45 | -4.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 19 | $324 | 0.48 | +5.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld |
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 #
$290.2 m in deposits at 6 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,147, highly concentrated. $62.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $54.6 m, grants $8.1 m), $26,342 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle Bank | $136.1 m · 46.9% share · 2 offices | |
| Cornerstone Bank | $57.9 m · 19.9% share · 1 office | |
| Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $48.8 m · 16.8% share · 1 office | |
| Merrick, NE | $62.8 m FY2026 · $26,342/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $47.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinnacle Bank | $136,093,000 | 46.9% | 2 |
| Cornerstone Bank | $57,856,000 | 19.9% | 1 |
| Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $48,829,000 | 16.8% | 1 |
| Bank of Clarks | $47,422,000 | 16.3% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 3,147 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 46.9² + 19.9² + 16.8² + … (1 more) = 3,147
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.
That is $26,342 per covered job, against 2,385 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $62.8 m / 2,385 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $26,342
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 #
Merrick County, NE: 8 findings, 1 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchMerrick County, NE's covered employment of 2,385 scores 20 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 58 across Nebraska counties, a gap of 38 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 38 = |20 across US counties - 58 across Nebraska counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMerrick County, NE's covered employment was 5.1% 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
- +5.1 % = 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
noteMerrick County, NE's average weekly wage was 4.8% 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
- +4.8 % = 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
noteMerrick County, NE's typical home value fell 0.3% from $229,033 in August 2026 to $228,260 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.3% = (228259.5719010708 - 229033.16749731466) / 229033.16749731466 × 100
- 228259.5719010708 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 229033.16749731466 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
noteMerrick County, NE's covered employment of +5.1% ranks 187th of 3,221 US counties, against a median of -0.2%.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 94 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.yoy.emp
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.