Lassen County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.72, -120.62.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 50th pct · 1,531st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 1st pct · 57th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- 34th pct · 2,003rd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 71st pct · 17th of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- US counties: not published this period
- California counties: not published this period
- 51st pct · 1,566th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 15th pct · 49th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- 73rd pct · 862nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 42nd pct · 33rd of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- 40th pct · 1,829th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 1st pct · 57th 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 $234,567 (Aug 2026), +1.6% over one year, +1.8% over five
- 50th pct · 1,531st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 1st pct · 57th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lassen County, CA | $234,567 · +1.6% 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
- California 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 $1,284 a month on $234,567 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,087 a month: 25.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $234,567 × 80% = $187,654, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,284/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,174 × 52 / 12 = $5,087) = 25% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $234,567 / ($1,174 × 52) = 3.8
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 #
8,592 jobs at 745 employers (2026 Q1); -3.2% jobs and +2.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 51st pct · 1,566th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 15th pct · 49th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lassen County, CA | 8,592 jobs · $1,174/wk · -3.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 826 | $700 | 0.99 | -4.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 422 | $502 | 0.55 | +5.2% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 217 | $1,370 | 3.50 | -17.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 154 | $1,082 | 0.26 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 147 | $772 | 0.57 | +0.7% |
| Wholesale trade | 95 | $987 | 0.29 | -15.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 60 | $1,506 | 0.17 | -3.2% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 39 | $591 | 0.28 | +8.3% |
| Real estate and rental | 33 | $683 | 0.25 | +3.1% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld |
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 #
3 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 3, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| PYRAMID LAKE NR NIXON, NV | 3,802 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 125 km |
| INDEPENDENCE LK NR TRUCKEE CA | 15,260 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 143 km |
| STAMPEDE RES NR BOCA CA | 143,000 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 145 km |
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 #
5 gauges · 0 flooding · 1 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 1 stale
Sites found: 5, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Susan River at Susanville | no flooding | 34 km |
| SF PIT R NR LIKELY CA | flow 18.7 ft³/s | 59 km |
| Ash Creek at Adin | no readings | 60 km |
| SMOKE CK BLW RESERVOIR NR SMOKE CK, NV | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 67 km |
| HAT C NR HAT CREEK CA | flow 119.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) | 68 km |
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 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$284.9 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,249, highly concentrated. $182.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $147.7 m, contracts $18.3 m), $21,248 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Plumas Bank | $174.3 m · 61.2% share · 1 office | |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $110.7 m · 38.8% share · 1 office | |
| Lassen, CA | $182.6 m FY2026 · $21,248/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $137.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumas Bank | $174,278,000 | 61.2% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $110,668,000 | 38.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,249 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 = 61.2² + 38.8² = 5,249
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 | $112,869,403 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $23,780,582 |
| Department of Agriculture | $10,118,742 |
| Department of Transportation | $9,964,740 |
| Department of Defense | $9,832,668 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $4,860,323 |
| Department of Education | $2,894,835 |
| Department of Justice | $2,764,041 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,749,347 |
| Department of the Interior | $1,593,023 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $883,069 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $766,301 |
That is $21,248 per covered job, against 8,592 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $182.6 m / 8,592 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,248
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 | -88,576.00 | 2026-07-01 | -24.4% |
| 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 #
Lassen County, CA: 15 findings, 1 at an alert level, 6 at a watch level and 8 noted
alertLassen County, CA's covered employment is -3.2% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -3.2 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLassen County, CA's covered employment is -3.2% 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 = -3.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchLassen County, CA's typical home value of $234,567 scores 50 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 2 across California counties, a gap of 48 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 48 = |50 across US counties - 2 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchLassen County, CA's years of wages of 3.8 scores 40 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 2 across California counties, a gap of 39 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 39 = |40 across US counties - 2 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
watchLassen County, CA's typical home value of +1.6% scores 35 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 72 across California counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |35 across US counties - 72 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.