Lake County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.11, -122.75.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 70th pct · 889th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 7th pct · 54th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- 12th pct · 2,679th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 12th pct · 51st of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- 72nd pct · 383rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 18th pct · 40th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- 68th pct · 1,028th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 26th pct · 43rd of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- 63rd pct · 1,178th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 24th pct · 44th of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- 70th pct · 916th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 8th pct · 53rd of 58 California counties · median 7.4
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 $307,740 (Aug 2026), -1.4% over one year, -6.5% over five
- 70th pct · 889th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 7th pct · 54th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | $307,740 · -1.4% 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 $1,781/mo (Aug 2026), +3.9% over one year; price-to-rent 14.4
- 72nd pct · 383rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 18th pct · 40th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | $1,781/mo · +3.9% 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 $1,684 a month on $307,740 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,788 a month: 35.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $307,740 × 80% = $246,192, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,684/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,105 × 52 / 12 = $4,788) = 35% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $307,740 / ($1,105 × 52) = 5.4
- price-to-rent = $307,740 / ($1,781 × 12) = 14.4
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 #
17,283 jobs at 4,043 employers (2026 Q1); -1.7% jobs and +2.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 68th pct · 1,028th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 26th pct · 43rd of 58 California counties · median 74,865
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lake County, CA | 17,283 jobs · $1,105/wk · -1.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 2,115 | $745 | 1.26 | -1.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,042 | $515 | 0.67 | -3.0% |
| Construction | 797 | $1,242 | 0.88 | -4.1% |
| Utilities | 406 | $4,377 | 5.95 | +2.5% |
| Manufacturing | 297 | $1,072 | 0.21 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 268 | $1,082 | 0.22 | -3.9% |
| Other services | 263 | $1,120 | 0.51 | -20.3% |
| Administrative and waste services | 247 | $1,015 | 0.25 | -22.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 172 | $1,193 | 0.24 | -4.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 149 | $894 | 0.56 | -0.7% |
| Management of companies | 143 | $1,447 | 0.49 | +50.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 114 | $1,839 | 0.16 | -78.3% |
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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
$826.9 m in deposits at 11 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,703, moderately concentrated. $487.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $447.9 m, grants $29.7 m), $28,226 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Westamerica Bank | $195.8 m · 23.7% share · 4 offices | |
| Columbia Bank | $174.0 m · 21.0% share · 2 offices | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $135.4 m · 16.4% share · 1 office | |
| Lake, CA | $487.8 m FY2026 · $28,226/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westamerica Bank | $195,791,000 | 23.7% | 4 |
| Columbia Bank | $174,018,000 | 21.0% | 2 |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $135,380,000 | 16.4% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $128,756,000 | 15.6% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $82,688,000 | 10.0% | 1 |
| Savings Bank of Mendocino County | $55,856,000 | 6.8% | 1 |
| Tri Counties Bank | $54,371,000 | 6.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,703 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 23.7² + 21.0² + 16.4² + … (4 more) = 1,703
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 #
That is $28,226 per covered job, against 17,283 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $487.8 m / 17,283 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,226
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 | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| 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 · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +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 | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| 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 | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
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 #
Lake County, CA: 17 findings, 7 at a watch level and 10 noted
watchLake County, CA's covered employment is -1.7% 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 = -1.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLake County, CA's typical home value is -1.4% 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -1.40043628661657 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchLake County, CA's typical home value of $307,740 scores 71 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 7 across California counties, a gap of 64 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 64 = |71 across US counties - 7 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchLake County, CA's years of wages of 5.4 scores 70 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 9 across California counties, a gap of 61 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 61 = |70 across US counties - 9 across California 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
watchLake County, CA's typical asking rent of $1,781 scores 73 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 19 across California counties, a gap of 54 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 54 = |73 across US counties - 19 across California 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.