Belknap County, NH
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 43.52, -71.43.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 94th pct · 184th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 66th pct · 4th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median $496,284
- 48th pct · 1,564th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median +3.0%
- 81st pct · 254th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median $2,108
- 74th pct · 815th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median 37,786
- 60th pct · 1,259th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 22nd pct · 8th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median $1,282
- 95th pct · 128th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 88th pct · 2nd of 10 New Hampshire counties · median 6.7
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 $507,481 (Sep 2026), +2.8% over one year, +35.5% over five
- 94th pct · 184th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 66th pct · 4th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median $496,284
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Belknap County, NH | $507,481 · +2.8% 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 $1,956/mo (Sep 2026), +3.0% over one year; price-to-rent 21.6
- 81st pct · 254th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median $2,108
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Belknap County, NH | $1,956/mo · +3.0% 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 $2,811 a month on $507,481 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,736 a month: 59.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $507,481 × 80% = $405,985, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,811/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,093 × 52 / 12 = $4,736) = 59% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $507,481 / ($1,093 × 52) = 8.9
- price-to-rent = $507,481 / ($1,956 × 12) = 21.6
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 #
24,456 jobs at 2,184 employers (2026 Q1); -2.2% jobs and +1.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 74th pct · 815th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 33rd pct · 7th of 10 New Hampshire counties · median 37,786
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Belknap County, NH | 24,456 jobs · $1,093/wk · -2.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 4,649 | $812 | 1.95 | -4.9% |
| Health care and social assistance | 3,191 | $1,258 | 0.87 | -0.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 3,001 | $602 | 1.37 | -2.2% |
| Construction | 1,348 | $1,534 | 1.05 | -4.9% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,014 | $935 | 0.73 | +8.6% |
| Other services | 809 | $915 | 1.11 | -8.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 672 | $1,781 | 0.40 | +2.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 645 | $651 | 1.60 | -1.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 456 | $1,810 | 0.49 | -5.0% |
| Management of companies | 439 | $2,273 | 1.07 | -8.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 407 | $2,460 | 0.41 | -4.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 405 | $897 | 0.39 | +11.6% |
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 #
D1 moderate 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: 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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$2.7 bn in deposits at 19 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,309, highly concentrated. $603.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $566.9 m, grants $24.5 m), $24,694 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of New Hampshire | $922.7 m · 34.5% share · 3 offices | |
| Meredith Village Savings Bank | $704.7 m · 26.3% share · 5 offices | |
| TD Bank, National Association | $448.6 m · 16.8% share · 3 offices | |
| Belknap, NH | $603.9 m FY2026 · $24,694/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $554.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of New Hampshire | $922,716,000 | 34.5% | 3 |
| Meredith Village Savings Bank | $704,730,000 | 26.3% | 5 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $448,550,000 | 16.8% | 3 |
| Citizens Bank, National Association | $220,119,000 | 8.2% | 2 |
| Franklin Savings Bank | $171,221,000 | 6.4% | 2 |
| The Camden National Bank | $145,570,000 | 5.4% | 3 |
| Profile Bank | $62,081,000 | 2.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,309 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 34.5² + 26.3² + 16.8² + … (4 more) = 2,309
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 | $500,211,399 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $64,978,225 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $10,386,483 |
| Department of Defense | $9,993,131 |
| Department of Transportation | $9,017,838 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $3,602,721 |
| Department of Education | $1,943,755 |
| Department of Agriculture | $1,840,542 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $870,763 |
| General Services Administration | $646,252 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $448,338 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $24,694 per covered job, against 24,456 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $603.9 m / 24,456 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $24,694
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 #
Belknap County, NH: 13 findings, 5 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchBelknap County, NH's years of wages of 8.9 ranks 128th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 95.8523840627041 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchBelknap County, NH's covered employment is -2.2% 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 = -2.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBelknap County, NH's typical asking rent of $1,956 scores 81 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 33 across New Hampshire counties, a gap of 48 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 48 = |81 across US counties - 33 across New Hampshire counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBelknap County, NH's covered employment of 24,456 scores 75 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 33 across New Hampshire counties, a gap of 41 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 41 = |75 across US counties - 33 across New Hampshire counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBelknap County, NH's average weekly wage of $1,093 scores 61 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 22 across New Hampshire counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |61 across US counties - 22 across New Hampshire counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.