Menard County, IL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.02, -89.79.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 41st pct · 1,801st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 79th pct · 22nd of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 87th pct · 391st of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 74th pct · 27th of 102 Illinois counties · median +5.2%
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Illinois counties: not published this period
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 14th pct · 2,742nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 91st of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 9th pct · 2,901st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 1st pct · 100th of 102 Illinois counties · median $1,061
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 61st pct · 1,169th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 90th pct · 11th of 102 Illinois counties · median 2.8
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $211,630 (Aug 2026), +7.3% over one year, +24.0% over five
- 41st pct · 1,801st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 79th pct · 22nd of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Menard County, IL | $211,630 · +7.3% 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
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $1,158 a month on $211,630 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,631 a month: 31.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $211,630 × 80% = $169,304, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,158/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $838 × 52 / 12 = $3,631) = 32% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $211,630 / ($838 × 52) = 4.9
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 #
1,845 jobs at 232 employers (2026 Q1); +5.5% jobs and +4.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 14th pct · 2,742nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 91st of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
- counties in the Springfield metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 2 counties in the Springfield metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Menard County, IL | 1,845 jobs · $838/wk · +5.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 241 | $613 | 1.34 | -2.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 167 | $385 | 1.01 | +75.8% |
| Construction | 112 | $921 | 1.16 | +16.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 95 | $876 | 0.75 | -11.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 87 | $1,308 | 1.16 | -5.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 46 | $947 | 1.63 | +2.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 45 | $1,381 | 0.64 | +45.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 33 | $623 | 0.31 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 30 | $483 | 0.99 | -11.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Utilities | 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 #
No reservoir gauges within 150 km (or the camera is above the gauge altitude)
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 #
43 gauges · 0 flooding · 20 with quality panels averaging 95 % · 10 stale
Sites found: 43, 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-401913089534501 | turb. 0.10 FNU · quality 80 % (5) | 34 km |
| USGS-401934089541704 | turb. 1.00 FNU · quality 75 % (4) | 35 km |
| USGS-401934089541703 | turb. 0.10 FNU · quality 75 % (4) | 35 km |
| USGS-05576100 | flow 16.1 ft³/s · quality 70 % (5) | 35 km |
| USGS-05578000 | flow 225.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 4 km |
| USGS-05582000 | flow 285.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 13 km |
| USGS-05583000 | flow 559.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) · no flooding | 20 km |
| USGS-05576900 | stage 21.3 ft | 23 km |
| USGS-05577500 | flow 0.59 ft³/s | 24 km |
| USGS-05576500 | flow 149.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 29 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 #
7 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 7, 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-401913089534501 | depth 18.8 ft · 2026-10-05 | 34 km |
| USGS-401934089541706 | depth 4.79 ft · 2026-10-05 | 35 km |
| USGS-401934089541702 | depth 4.60 ft · 2026-10-05 | 35 km |
| USGS-401934089541705 | depth 4.60 ft · 2026-10-05 | 35 km |
| USGS-401934089541701 | depth 5.23 ft · 2026-10-05 | 35 km |
| USGS-401921089282103 | depth 6.04 ft · 2024-04-12 | 43 km |
| USGS-401921089282102 | depth 35.1 ft · 2024-04-17 | 43 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 + 0.2×0.05 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$360.2 m in deposits at 5 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 6,878, highly concentrated. $90.1 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $88.9 m, grants $830,141), $48,819 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance Community Bank | $291.7 m · 81.0% share · 3 offices | |
| Petefish, Skiles & Co. | $64.4 m · 17.9% share · 1 office | |
| Longview Community Bank | $4.1 m · 1.1% share · 1 office | |
| Menard, IL | $90.1 m FY2026 · $48,819/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $77.7 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Community Bank | $291,677,000 | 81.0% | 3 |
| Petefish, Skiles & Co. | $64,406,000 | 17.9% | 1 |
| Longview Community Bank | $4,113,000 | 1.1% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 6,878 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 81.0² + 17.9² + 1.1² = 6,878
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 | $67,711,756 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,207,420 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $7,072,735 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,604,798 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $731,171 |
| Department of Transportation | $696,519 |
| Department of Education | $24,098 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $22,004 |
That is $48,819 per covered job, against 1,845 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $90.1 m / 1,845 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $48,819
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 | 2026-10-05 | +0.1% |
| 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 #
Menard County, IL: 12 findings, 1 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchMenard County, IL's typical home value of $211,630 scores 41 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 79 across Illinois counties, a gap of 38 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 38 = |41 across US counties - 79 across Illinois counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMenard County, IL's covered employment was 5.5% 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
- +5.5 % = 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
noteMenard County, IL's average weekly wage was 4.2% 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
- +4.2 % = 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
noteMenard County, IL's typical home value rose 0.4% from $210,771 in July 2026 to $211,630 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (211629.98666900126 - 210770.99655282006) / 210770.99655282006 × 100
- 211629.98666900126 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 210770.99655282006 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteMenard County, IL's covered employment of +5.5% ranks 3rd of 102 Illinois counties, against a median of -1.0%.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across 102 Illinois counties that published jobs.yoy.emp
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.