Essex County, NJ
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.79, -74.25.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 97th pct · 82nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 80th pct · 5th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- 47th pct · 12th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $680,195
- 61st pct · 1,178th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 55th pct · 10th of 21 New Jersey counties · median +3.1%
- 33rd pct · 15th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median +4.7%
- 91st pct · 112th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 45th pct · 12th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- 4th pct · 21st of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $2,825
- 97th pct · 81st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 90th pct · 3rd of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- 57th pct · 10th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 283,785
- 98th pct · 61st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 80th pct · 5th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $1,446
- 76th pct · 6th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $1,632
- 84th pct · 466th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 65th pct · 8th of 21 New Jersey counties · median 6.1
- 28th pct · 16th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 8.4
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 $658,593 (Sep 2026), +3.8% over one year, +32.5% over five
- 97th pct · 82nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 80th pct · 5th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $579,852
- 47th pct · 12th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $680,195
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Essex County, NJ | $658,593 · +3.8% 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 $2,273/mo (Sep 2026), +0.8% over one year; price-to-rent 24.1
- 91st pct · 112th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 45th pct · 12th of 21 New Jersey counties · median $2,291
- 4th pct · 21st of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median $2,825
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Essex County, NJ | $2,273/mo · +0.8% 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 $3,648 a month on $658,593 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $8,385 a month: 43.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $658,593 × 80% = $526,874, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $3,648/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,935 × 52 / 12 = $8,385) = 44% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $658,593 / ($1,935 × 52) = 6.5
- price-to-rent = $658,593 / ($2,273 × 12) = 24.1
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 #
357,671 jobs at 24,726 employers (2026 Q1); +1.6% jobs and +1.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 97th pct · 81st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 90th pct · 3rd of 21 New Jersey counties · median 188,702
- 57th pct · 10th of 22 counties in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro · median 283,785
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Essex County, NJ | 357,671 jobs · $1,935/wk · +1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 62,465 | $1,401 | 1.16 | +10.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 35,238 | $2,158 | 2.34 | +0.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 25,558 | $698 | 0.80 | +0.8% |
| Retail trade | 23,344 | $878 | 0.67 | -0.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 21,599 | $2,802 | 0.88 | -1.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 18,128 | $6,352 | 1.24 | +11.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 16,513 | $1,127 | 0.81 | +2.1% |
| Manufacturing | 16,464 | $1,815 | 0.57 | -1.5% |
| Other services | 12,334 | $988 | 1.15 | -1.6% |
| Construction | 9,703 | $1,709 | 0.52 | +0.0% |
| Educational services | 8,889 | $1,208 | 1.16 | -0.6% |
| Real estate and rental | 5,575 | $1,481 | 1.02 | -6.4% |
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 #
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 #
$28.7 bn in deposits at 187 offices of 31 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 808, unconcentrated. $6.5 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $5.1 bn, contracts $840.7 m), $18,081 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Flagstar Bank, National Association | $3.8 bn · 13.3% share · 8 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $3.7 bn · 12.8% share · 17 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $2.9 bn · 10.0% share · 14 offices | |
| Essex, NJ | $6.5 bn FY2026 · $18,081/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $4.7 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flagstar Bank, National Association | $3,805,936,000 | 13.3% | 8 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $3,657,339,000 | 12.8% | 17 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $2,861,711,000 | 10.0% | 14 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,811,083,000 | 9.8% | 20 |
| Valley National Bank | $2,517,346,000 | 8.8% | 17 |
| TD Bank, National Association | $2,369,815,000 | 8.3% | 12 |
| PNC Bank, National Association | $1,874,354,000 | 6.5% | 14 |
| Santander Bank, N.A. | $1,343,051,000 | 4.7% | 11 |
| Citizens Bank, National Association | $1,291,896,000 | 4.5% | 14 |
| Provident Bank | $1,072,197,000 | 3.7% | 11 |
Deposit concentration is 808 across 31 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls unconcentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 31 banks with deposits in the county = 13.3² + 12.8² + 10.0² + … (28 more) = 808
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 | $2,945,553,336 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,884,390,305 |
| Department of Defense | $639,963,543 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $404,230,692 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $199,141,312 |
| Department of Education | $166,685,456 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $70,791,000 |
| General Services Administration | $53,830,161 |
| Department of Transportation | $29,935,379 |
| National Science Foundation | $13,984,325 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $13,227,096 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $12,098,137 |
That is $18,081 per covered job, against 357,671 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $6.5 bn / 357,671 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,081
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 #
Essex County, NJ: 17 findings, 2 at a watch level and 15 noted
watchEssex County, NJ's price-to-rent ratio of 24.1 ranks 123rd of 1,358 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 91.00957995578482 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchEssex County, NJ's typical asking rent of $2,273 scores 92 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 45 across New Jersey counties, a gap of 47 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 47 = |92 across US counties - 45 across New Jersey counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteEssex County, NJ's average weekly wage was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
noteEssex County, NJ's covered employment was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
noteEssex County, NJ's typical asking rent rose 0.4% from $2,263 in August 2026 to $2,273 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (2272.891260847711 - 2263.402196641108) / 2263.402196641108 × 100
- 2272.891260847711 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
- 2263.402196641108 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08
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.