Brown County, IL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.96, -90.75.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 19th pct · 2,462nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 51st pct · 50th of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
- 36th pct · 1,938th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 20th pct · 81st of 102 Illinois counties · median +5.2%
- US counties: not published this period
- Illinois counties: not published this period
- 36th pct · 2,053rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 35th pct · 66th of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
- 90th pct · 292nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 91st pct · 10th of 102 Illinois counties · median $1,061
- 5th pct · 2,898th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 17th pct · 84th of 102 Illinois counties · median 2.8
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 $160,408 (Aug 2026), +1.8% over one year, -10.9% over five
- 19th pct · 2,462nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 51st pct · 50th of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, IL | $160,408 · +1.8% 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
- Illinois 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 $878 a month on $160,408 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,249 a month: 14.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $160,408 × 80% = $128,326, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $878/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,442 × 52 / 12 = $6,249) = 14% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $160,408 / ($1,442 × 52) = 2.1
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 #
4,823 jobs at 122 employers (2026 Q1); +1.2% jobs and -1.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 36th pct · 2,053rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 35th pct · 66th of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brown County, IL | 4,823 jobs · $1,442/wk · +1.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 111 | $1,746 | 0.15 | -17.2% |
| Retail trade | 103 | $541 | 0.22 | -1.9% |
| Educational services | 78 | $889 | 0.75 | +1.3% |
| Construction | 35 | $1,265 | 0.14 | -14.6% |
| Professional and technical services | 33 | $798 | 0.10 | +3.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 16 | $1,004 | 0.06 | -5.9% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | 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 #
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 #
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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-05507820 | 1,046 Acre-ft (USGS, no capacity on file) | 87 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 #
34 gauges · 1 flooding · 5 with quality panels averaging 94 % · 4 stale
Sites found: 34, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Louisiana | MINOR flooding | 62 km |
| USGS-05586300 | stage 20.6 ft · quality 80 % (5) | 39 km |
| USGS-05585000 | flow 610.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 12 km |
| USGS-05585830 | flow 211.0 ft³/s · STALE | 18 km |
| Illinois River at LaGrange Lock and Dam | no flooding | 19 km |
| USGS-05585500 | flow 5,790 ft³/s · no flooding | 22 km |
| Illinois River at Beardstown | no flooding | 27 km |
| USGS-05586100 | flow 29,500 ft³/s · no flooding | 30 km |
| USGS-05512500 | flow 45.3 ft³/s · STALE | 38 km |
| USGS-05584500 | flow 280.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 43 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: Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer
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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-393750090333101 | depth 8.76 ft · 2026-10-05 | 40 km |
| Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer | depth 15.5 ft · 2026-10-05 | 60 km |
| Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system | depth 62.3 ft · 2026-10-05 | 68 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 (0.02)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.06 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$227.1 m in deposits at 5 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,722, highly concentrated. $29.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $30.1 m, grants $275,189), $6,165 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Farmers State Bank & Trust Co. | $117.9 m · 51.9% share · 2 offices | |
| United Community Bank | $62.8 m · 27.6% share · 1 office | |
| Eagle Valley Bank | $35.0 m · 15.4% share · 1 office | |
| Brown, IL | $29.7 m FY2026 · $6,165/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $27.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers State Bank & Trust Co. | $117,914,000 | 51.9% | 2 |
| United Community Bank | $62,762,000 | 27.6% | 1 |
| Eagle Valley Bank | $34,977,000 | 15.4% | 1 |
| Beardstown Savings s.b. | $11,447,000 | 5.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,722 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 51.9² + 27.6² + 15.4² + … (1 more) = 3,722
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 | $24,140,070 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,689,693 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,684,538 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $565,035 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $271,009 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $27,258 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
| Department of Transportation | -$531 |
| Department of Defense | -$642,589 |
That is $6,165 per covered job, against 4,823 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $29.7 m / 4,823 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $6,165
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 #
Brown County, IL: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchBrown County, IL's average weekly wage is -1.9% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -1.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBrown County, IL's typical home value of $160,408 scores 20 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 51 across Illinois counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |20 across US counties - 51 across Illinois counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBrown County, IL's average weekly wage was 1.9% 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
- -1.9 % = 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
noteBrown County, IL's covered employment was 1.2% 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
- +1.2 % = 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
noteBrown County, IL's typical home value fell 0.8% from $161,649 in July 2026 to $160,408 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.8% = (160407.93114302985 - 161649.39522699534) / 161649.39522699534 × 100
- 160407.93114302985 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 161649.39522699534 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 9 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.