Modoc County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.59, -120.72.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 35th pct · 1,978th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 58th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- 63rd pct · 1,104th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 91st pct · 6th of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- US counties: not published this period
- California counties: not published this period
- 20th pct · 2,545th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 56th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- 42nd pct · 1,846th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 1st pct · 57th of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- 37th pct · 1,907th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 0th pct · 58th 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 $195,654 (Aug 2026), +4.2% over one year, +21.7% over five
- 35th pct · 1,978th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 58th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Modoc County, CA | $195,654 · +4.2% 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 $1,071 a month on $195,654 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,364 a month: 24.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $195,654 × 80% = $156,524, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,071/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,007 × 52 / 12 = $4,364) = 25% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $195,654 / ($1,007 × 52) = 3.7
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 #
2,564 jobs at 409 employers (2026 Q1); -1.7% jobs and +4.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 20th pct · 2,545th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 3rd pct · 56th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Modoc County, CA | 2,564 jobs · $1,007/wk · -1.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 239 | $865 | 12.91 | +0.8% |
| Retail trade | 159 | $719 | 0.64 | -9.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 109 | $818 | 0.75 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 98 | $1,461 | 1.00 | -3.9% |
| Professional and technical services | 59 | $898 | 0.33 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 36 | $1,352 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| Real estate and rental | 8 | $725 | 0.20 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | 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 #
D1 moderate drought
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 #
1 USGS reservoir gauges, no capacity figures to weight
Sites found: 1, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| KENO RESERVOIR AT KENO, OR | 84.0 ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 118 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 #
6 gauges · 0 flooding · 2 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 1 stale
Sites found: 6, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| PIT R NR CANBY CA | flow 2.65 ft³/s · no flooding | 27 km |
| SF PIT R NR LIKELY CA | flow 18.7 ft³/s | 47 km |
| Ash Creek at Adin | no readings | 48 km |
| Drews Creek at Drews Reservoir | no readings | 59 km |
| WEST CANAL BELOW MALONE DAM AT LANGELL VALLEY, OR | temp 15.9 °C · quality 100 % (1) | 62 km |
| LOST RIVER BELOW MALONE DAM AT GIFT ROAD | temp 17.8 °C · quality 100 % (1) · STALE | 71 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 #
3 wells in 2 named aquifers: Pacific Northwest volcanic-rock aquifers, Pacific Northwest basin-fill aquifers
Sites found: 3, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Northwest volcanic-rock aquifers | depth 50.6 ft · 2026-07-06 | 63 km |
| Pacific Northwest basin-fill aquifers | depth 5.82 ft · 2026-07-06 | 64 km |
| 46.00N/05.00E-19M01M | depth 104.4 ft · 2003-08-28 | 66 km |
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 (0.16)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$182.0 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,683, highly concentrated. $91.1 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $61.6 m, contracts $20.4 m), $35,540 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Plumas Bank | $124.6 m · 68.5% share · 1 office | |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $57.4 m · 31.5% share · 1 office | |
| Modoc, CA | $91.1 m FY2026 · $35,540/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $57.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumas Bank | $124,646,000 | 68.5% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $57,357,000 | 31.5% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,683 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 = 68.5² + 31.5² = 5,683
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 | $51,138,551 |
| Department of Transportation | $15,564,277 |
| Department of Agriculture | $8,206,107 |
| Department of the Interior | $6,386,247 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $6,004,231 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1,519,308 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $921,148 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $535,013 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $411,022 |
| Department of Justice | $250,000 |
| Department of Education | $130,135 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $56,522 |
That is $35,540 per covered job, against 2,564 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $91.1 m / 2,564 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $35,540
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 | 12.28 | 2026-10-04 | -0.1% |
| 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 #
Modoc County, CA: 13 findings, 4 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchModoc 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
watchModoc County, CA's average weekly wage of $1,007 scores 43 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 2 across California counties, a gap of 41 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 41 = |43 across US counties - 2 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchModoc County, CA's years of wages of 3.7 scores 38 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 0 across California counties, a gap of 38 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 38 = |38 across US counties - 0 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
watchModoc County, CA's typical home value of $195,654 scores 35 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 0 across California counties, a gap of 35 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 35 = |35 across US counties - 0 across California counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteModoc County, CA's average weekly wage was 4.1% 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
- +4.1 % = 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.