Polk County, NC
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 35.28, -82.17.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 71st pct · 875th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 65th pct · 35th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
- 6th pct · 2,850th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 2nd pct · 98th of 100 North Carolina counties · median +1.1%
- 94th pct · 79th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 62 North Carolina counties · median $1,550
- 40th pct · 1,926th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 80th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
- 18th pct · 2,634th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 8th pct · 92nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median $984
- 85th pct · 451st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 78th pct · 22nd of 100 North Carolina counties · median 5.0
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 $306,649 (Sep 2026), -3.0% over one year, +18.9% over five
- 71st pct · 875th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 65th pct · 35th of 100 North Carolina counties · median $270,749
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, NC | $306,649 · -3.0% 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 $2,500/mo (Sep 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 10.2
- 94th pct · 79th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 100th pct · 1st of 62 North Carolina counties · median $1,550
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, NC | $2,500/mo · n/a 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 $1,699 a month on $306,649 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,878 a month: 43.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $306,649 × 80% = $245,319, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,699/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $895 × 52 / 12 = $3,878) = 44% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $306,649 / ($895 × 52) = 6.6
- price-to-rent = $306,649 / ($2,500 × 12) = 10.2
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 #
5,589 jobs at 745 employers (2026 Q1); +1.7% jobs and +2.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 40th pct · 1,926th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 80th of 100 North Carolina counties · median 16,739
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Polk County, NC | 5,589 jobs · $895/wk · +1.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 1,414 | $944 | 1.68 | -1.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 445 | $397 | 0.89 | +10.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 400 | $851 | 1.26 | +4.4% |
| Manufacturing | 397 | $928 | 0.88 | +1.8% |
| Retail trade | 383 | $623 | 0.70 | +1.9% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 350 | $622 | 3.80 | +2.9% |
| Construction | 347 | $990 | 1.18 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 153 | $719 | 0.92 | +3.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 128 | $1,726 | 0.60 | +17.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 116 | $724 | 2.87 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 103 | $1,778 | 0.45 | -15.6% |
| Real estate and rental | 60 | $656 | 0.70 | +17.6% |
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 #
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 #
$392.0 m in deposits at 3 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,375, highly concentrated. $222.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $185.9 m, grants $36.8 m), $39,858 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| HomeTrust Bank | $249.7 m · 63.7% share · 2 offices | |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $142.3 m · 36.3% share · 1 office | |
| Polk, NC | $222.8 m FY2026 · $39,858/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $184.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomeTrust Bank | $249,653,000 | 63.7% | 2 |
| First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $142,348,000 | 36.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,375 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 63.7² + 36.3² = 5,375
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 | $168,854,592 |
| Department of Transportation | $35,760,432 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $15,059,601 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $808,135 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $779,088 |
| Department of Agriculture | $688,359 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $630,418 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $155,813 |
| Small Business Administration | $83,668 |
| Department of Justice | $8,140 |
| Department of Defense | -$10,741 |
| Department of Homeland Security | -$52,221 |
That is $39,858 per covered job, against 5,589 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $222.8 m / 5,589 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $39,858
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 #
Polk County, NC: 15 findings, 1 at a watch level and 14 noted
watchPolk County, NC's typical home value is -3.0% 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 = -3.0255372963884724 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
notePolk County, NC's average weekly wage was 2.9% 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
- +2.9 % = 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
notePolk County, NC's covered employment was 1.7% 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
- +1.7 % = 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
notePolk County, NC's typical home value fell 0.5% from $308,165 in August 2026 to $306,649 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- -0.5% = (306648.92547085806 - 308164.8274389966) / 308164.8274389966 × 100
- 306648.92547085806 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
- 308164.8274389966 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
notetypical asking rent (rent.latest) and typical asking rent (rent.momPct) for Polk County, NC could not be lined up against the previous published period this run, so no change is printed for them.
Show the arithmetic
- not comparable this run: rent.latest, rent.momPct
the two newest month columns in the published file are not the two this table carries
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.