Mercer County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 37.40, -81.11.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 15th pct · 2,591st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
- 21st pct · 2,398th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 22nd pct · 43rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median +2.6%
- 0th pct · 1,350th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 0th pct · 16th of 16 West Virginia counties · median $1,066
- 70th pct · 955th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 83rd pct · 10th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- 39th pct · 1,930th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 37th pct · 35th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- 17th pct · 2,538th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 53rd pct · 26th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.7
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 $145,481 (Sep 2026), +0.1% over one year, +35.4% over five
- 15th pct · 2,591st of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, WV | $145,481 · +0.1% 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 $772/mo (Sep 2026), +3.1% over one year; price-to-rent 15.7
- 0th pct · 1,350th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 0th pct · 16th of 16 West Virginia counties · median $1,066
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, WV | $772/mo · +3.1% 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 $806 a month on $145,481 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,312 a month: 18.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $145,481 × 80% = $116,385, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $806/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $995 × 52 / 12 = $4,312) = 19% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $145,481 / ($995 × 52) = 2.8
- price-to-rent = $145,481 / ($772 × 12) = 15.7
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 #
19,186 jobs at 1,691 employers (2026 Q1); -2.1% jobs and +3.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 70th pct · 955th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 83rd pct · 10th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, WV | 19,186 jobs · $995/wk · -2.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 4,730 | $1,171 | 1.64 | -0.7% |
| Retail trade | 2,679 | $705 | 1.43 | -6.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,025 | $381 | 1.17 | -2.8% |
| Manufacturing | 879 | $1,161 | 0.57 | -3.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 813 | $940 | 0.75 | -8.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 640 | $1,489 | 0.87 | +1.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 537 | $1,149 | 0.41 | -6.3% |
| Other services | 484 | $940 | 0.84 | -6.0% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 394 | $1,348 | 0.49 | -1.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 326 | $467 | 1.03 | -4.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 322 | $1,366 | 0.41 | -1.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 126 | $765 | 0.43 | +5.0% |
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 #
$1.2 bn in deposits at 17 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,437, highly concentrated. $495.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $443.6 m, grants $49.4 m), $25,810 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Community Bank | $442.0 m · 35.4% share · 6 offices | |
| Truist Bank | $295.9 m · 23.7% share · 1 office | |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $284.2 m · 22.8% share · 4 offices | |
| Mercer, WV | $495.2 m FY2026 · $25,810/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $427.8 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Community Bank | $442,036,000 | 35.4% | 6 |
| Truist Bank | $295,878,000 | 23.7% | 1 |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $284,162,000 | 22.8% | 4 |
| New Peoples Bank, Inc. | $90,495,000 | 7.2% | 2 |
| MCNB Bank and Trust Co. | $76,560,000 | 6.1% | 2 |
| City National Bank of West Virginia | $41,502,000 | 3.3% | 1 |
| First Sentinel Bank | $17,663,000 | 1.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,437 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 = 35.4² + 23.7² + 22.8² + … (4 more) = 2,437
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 | $347,876,239 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $62,928,080 |
| Department of Transportation | $29,287,785 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $16,624,468 |
| Department of Education | $14,498,340 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $12,369,203 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $5,022,909 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,348,594 |
| Department of Defense | $1,834,447 |
| National Science Foundation | $977,866 |
| Department of Energy | $674,225 |
| Department of Justice | $509,249 |
That is $25,810 per covered job, against 19,186 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $495.2 m / 19,186 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $25,810
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 #
Mercer County, WV: 13 findings, 4 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchMercer County, WV's covered employment is -2.1% 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 = -2.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchMercer County, WV's typical asking rent is -1.2% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, 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: rent.momPct = -1.2105815660891295 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZORI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchMercer County, WV's years of wages of 2.8 scores 17 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 54 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |17 across US counties - 54 across West Virginia counties|
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMercer County, WV's price-to-rent ratio of 15.7 scores 37 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 73 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 36 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 36 = |37 across US counties - 73 across West Virginia counties|
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMercer County, WV's average weekly wage was 3.9% 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
- +3.9 % = 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
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.