Mercer County, IL
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.21, -90.74.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 24th pct · 2,311th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 61st pct · 40th of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 90th pct · 292nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 80th pct · 21st of 102 Illinois counties · median +5.2%
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Illinois counties: not published this period
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 25th pct · 2,395th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 81st of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 10th pct · 2,894th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 2nd pct · 99th of 102 Illinois counties · median $1,061
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 43rd pct · 1,745th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 84th pct · 17th of 102 Illinois counties · median 2.8
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 $172,189 (Aug 2026), +7.8% over one year, +7.4% over five
- 24th pct · 2,311th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 61st pct · 40th of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, IL | $172,189 · +7.8% 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
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 $943 a month on $172,189 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,640 a month: 25.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $172,189 × 80% = $137,752, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $943/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $840 × 52 / 12 = $3,640) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $172,189 / ($840 × 52) = 3.9
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 #
3,134 jobs at 303 employers (2026 Q1); +3.2% jobs and +5.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 25th pct · 2,395th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 81st of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611
- counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer County, IL | 3,134 jobs · $840/wk · +3.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 354 | $1,323 | 1.40 | -8.8% |
| Retail trade | 323 | $647 | 1.06 | -0.9% |
| Accommodation and food services | 216 | $327 | 0.77 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 172 | $1,002 | 1.43 | +1.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 101 | $238 | 1.96 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 97 | $1,233 | 0.76 | +5.4% |
| Construction | 87 | $849 | 0.53 | +29.9% |
| Other services | 77 | $747 | 0.82 | +14.9% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 73 | $1,011 | 3.22 | +9.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 71 | $439 | 0.40 | +4.4% |
| Professional and technical services | 55 | $987 | 0.25 | -8.3% |
| Information | 42 | $811 | 0.73 | +7.7% |
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 #
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 #
$413.8 m in deposits at 10 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,727, moderately concentrated. $117.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $107.5 m, grants $8.3 m), $37,524 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Farmers State Bank of Western Illinois | $85.9 m · 20.8% share · 4 offices | |
| Blackhawk Bank & Trust | $80.2 m · 19.4% share · 1 office | |
| BankOrion | $74.9 m · 18.1% share · 1 office | |
| Mercer, IL | $117.6 m FY2026 · $37,524/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $102.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers State Bank of Western Illinois | $85,867,000 | 20.8% | 4 |
| Blackhawk Bank & Trust | $80,181,000 | 19.4% | 1 |
| BankOrion | $74,888,000 | 18.1% | 1 |
| Midwest Bank | $67,139,000 | 16.2% | 1 |
| 1st Community Bank | $58,249,000 | 14.1% | 2 |
| CBI Bank & Trust | $47,451,000 | 11.5% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,727 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 20.8² + 19.4² + 18.1² + … (3 more) = 1,727
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 | $92,268,869 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,396,960 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,002,313 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,031,273 |
| Department of Defense | $1,773,943 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $637,642 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $390,309 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $97,895 |
That is $37,524 per covered job, against 3,134 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $117.6 m / 3,134 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $37,524
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 | 3.00 | 2026-10-06 | -50.0% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| 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 #
Mercer County, IL: 11 findings, 2 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchMercer County, IL's years of wages of 3.9 scores 43 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 84 across Illinois counties, a gap of 41 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 41 = |43 across US counties - 84 across Illinois 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
watchMercer County, IL's typical home value of $172,189 scores 25 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 61 across Illinois counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |25 across US counties - 61 across Illinois counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteMercer County, IL's average weekly wage was 5.0% 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 % = 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
noteMercer County, IL's covered employment was 3.2% 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
- +3.2 % = 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
noteMercer County, IL's momentum index of 0.88 ranks 1st of 102 Illinois counties, against a median of 0.19.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 102 Illinois counties that published momentum
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.