Stephenson County, IL

Home values #

Typical home $162,553 (Aug 2026), +9.0% over one year, +48.7% over five

• 20th pct · 2,434th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
• 55th pct · 46th of 102 Illinois counties · median $158,585

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 #

Typical rent $946/mo (Aug 2026), +28.4% over one year; price-to-rent 14.3

• 5th pct · 1,323rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
• 18th pct · 28th of 34 Illinois counties · median $1,181

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 $890 a month on $162,553 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,308 a month: 16.8% of one job’s pay.

• payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $162,553 × 80% = $130,042, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $890/mo principal and interest
• wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,225 × 52 / 12 = $5,308) = 17% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
• years of wages = $162,553 / ($1,225 × 52) = 2.6
• price-to-rent = $162,553 / ($946 × 12) = 14.3

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 #

16,709 jobs at 1,023 employers (2026 Q1); -4.4% jobs and +15.2% average weekly wage over the year

• 67th pct · 1,054th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
• 70th pct · 31st of 102 Illinois counties · median 7,611

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 #

71 gauges · 0 flooding · 6 with quality panels averaging 96 % · 40 stale

Sites found: 71, 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 #

15 wells in 0 named aquifers:

Sites found: 15, 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 (0.02)

Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.04 / 0.55

Banks & federal dollars #

$1.6 bn in deposits at 17 offices of 9 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,425, highly concentrated. $312.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $298.2 m, grants $13.2 m), $18,687 per covered job

Deposit concentration is 2,425 across 9 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.

HHI = Σ (share %)² over 9 banks with deposits in the county = 42.8² + 16.7² + 11.1² + … (6 more) = 2,425

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.

That is $18,687 per covered job, against 16,709 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.

per job = FY2026 obligations $312.2 m / 16,709 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,687

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.

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 #

Stephenson County, IL: 14 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 9 noted

1. alertStephenson County, IL's covered employment is -4.4% 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 = -4.4 <= -3

   BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level

2. watchStephenson County, IL's typical asking rent is +28.4% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical asking rent at least 8 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; 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 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • test: rent.yoyPct = 28.437960827812514 >= 8

   arithmetic on Zillow ZORI; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level

3. watchStephenson County, IL's covered employment is -4.4% 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 = -4.4 < 0

   BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level

4. watchStephenson County, IL's typical home value of $162,553 scores 21 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 55 across Illinois counties, a gap of 35 points.

   Period 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 35 = |21 across US counties - 55 across Illinois counties|

   position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

5. watchStephenson County, IL's price-to-rent ratio of 14.3 scores 21 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 52 across Illinois counties, a gap of 30 points.

   Period 2026-08.
   Show the arithmetic

   • 30 = |21 across US counties - 52 across Illinois counties|
   • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

   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.