Nicholas County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 38.29, -80.80.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 20th pct · 2,432nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 59th pct · 23rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
- 58th pct · 1,281st of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 59th pct · 23rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median +2.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- West Virginia counties: not published this period
- 45th pct · 1,756th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 53rd pct · 26th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- 35th pct · 2,067th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 29th pct · 39th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- 24th pct · 2,309th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 66th pct · 19th 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 $159,335 (Sep 2026), +3.5% over one year, +34.2% over five
- 20th pct · 2,432nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 59th pct · 23rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median $151,294
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas County, WV | $159,335 · +3.5% 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
- West Virginia counties: not published this period
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 $883 a month on $159,335 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,225 a month: 20.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $159,335 × 80% = $127,468, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $883/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $975 × 52 / 12 = $4,225) = 21% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $159,335 / ($975 × 52) = 3.1
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 #
6,875 jobs at 813 employers (2026 Q1); -2.2% jobs and +2.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 45th pct · 1,756th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 53rd pct · 26th of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas County, WV | 6,875 jobs · $975/wk · -2.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 1,182 | $702 | 1.76 | -7.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 717 | $400 | 1.16 | -3.0% |
| Manufacturing | 564 | $1,373 | 1.02 | -3.6% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 314 | $1,807 | 12.83 | -4.0% |
| Construction | 270 | $1,109 | 0.75 | +9.3% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 250 | $1,151 | 0.86 | +7.3% |
| Administrative and waste services | 141 | $1,029 | 0.36 | -11.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 132 | $895 | 0.47 | +9.1% |
| Other services | 128 | $695 | 0.62 | +0.0% |
| Information | 77 | $1,345 | 0.61 | +30.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 62 | $778 | 1.25 | -8.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 43 | $749 | 0.41 | +13.2% |
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 #
$540.6 m in deposits at 8 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,486, highly concentrated. $220.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $197.5 m, grants $19.0 m), $32,096 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $149.5 m · 27.7% share · 1 office | |
| First Community Bank | $149.2 m · 27.6% share · 3 offices | |
| United Bank | $130.3 m · 24.1% share · 1 office | |
| Nicholas, WV | $220.7 m FY2026 · $32,096/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $196.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truist Bank | $149,536,000 | 27.7% | 1 |
| First Community Bank | $149,165,000 | 27.6% | 3 |
| United Bank | $130,273,000 | 24.1% | 1 |
| Community Trust Bank, Inc. | $105,094,000 | 19.4% | 1 |
| Woodforest National Bank | $4,876,000 | 0.9% | 1 |
| Pendleton Community Bank, Inc. | $1,634,000 | 0.3% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,486 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 27.7² + 27.6² + 24.1² + … (3 more) = 2,486
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 | $165,838,099 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $29,584,489 |
| Department of Transportation | $12,575,031 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $3,660,000 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,085,828 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $2,802,220 |
| Department of Defense | $2,006,066 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $895,334 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $203,438 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $14,229 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of Homeland Security | -$3,775 |
That is $32,096 per covered job, against 6,875 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $220.7 m / 6,875 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $32,096
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 #
Nicholas County, WV: 8 findings, 3 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchNicholas County, WV'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
watchNicholas County, WV's years of wages of 3.1 scores 25 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 67 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |25 across US counties - 67 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
watchNicholas County, WV's typical home value of $159,335 scores 21 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 59 across West Virginia counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |21 across US counties - 59 across West Virginia counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteNicholas County, WV's average weekly wage was 2.4% 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
- +2.4 % = 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
noteNicholas County, WV's covered employment was 2.2% lower 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
- -2.2 % = 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 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.