Benton County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.09, -92.06.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 67th pct · 994th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 89th pct · 11th of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 95th pct · 140th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 92nd pct · 8th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 0th pct · 1,398th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 3rd pct · 28th of 29 Iowa counties · median $1,006
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 41st pct · 1,889th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 52nd pct · 48th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 47th pct · 1,683rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 37th pct · 62nd of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 71st pct · 874th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 91st pct · 9th of 99 Iowa counties · median 3.5
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids 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 $291,509 (Aug 2026), +9.8% over one year, +37.7% over five
- 67th pct · 994th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 89th pct · 11th of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Benton County, IA | $291,509 · +9.8% 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 #
Typical rent $625/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 38.9
- 0th pct · 1,398th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 3rd pct · 28th of 29 Iowa counties · median $1,006
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Benton County, IA | $625/mo · n/a 1-yr |
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 $1,596 a month on $291,509 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,459 a month: 35.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $291,509 × 80% = $233,207, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,596/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,029 × 52 / 12 = $4,459) = 36% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $291,509 / ($1,029 × 52) = 5.4
- price-to-rent = $291,509 / ($625 × 12) = 38.9
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 #
5,838 jobs at 709 employers (2026 Q1); -0.1% jobs and +0.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 41st pct · 1,889th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 52nd pct · 48th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- counties in the Cedar Rapids metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Cedar Rapids metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Benton County, IA | 5,838 jobs · $1,029/wk · -0.1% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 754 | $633 | 1.33 | +3.0% |
| Manufacturing | 738 | $1,151 | 1.57 | -4.0% |
| Health care and social assistance | 526 | $744 | 0.60 | +0.4% |
| Construction | 389 | $1,572 | 1.27 | +13.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 334 | $1,202 | 1.49 | -2.9% |
| Accommodation and food services | 285 | $275 | 0.54 | -5.6% |
| Management of companies | 221 | $1,304 | 2.26 | +0.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 188 | $1,727 | 0.79 | -1.1% |
| Professional and technical services | 122 | $1,465 | 0.30 | +2.5% |
| Other services | 110 | $802 | 0.63 | -6.8% |
| Information | 105 | $1,929 | 0.98 | -0.9% |
| Administrative and waste services | 97 | $1,160 | 0.29 | +0.0% |
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 #
$792.8 m in deposits at 12 offices of 11 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,134, moderately concentrated. $182.3 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $178.5 m, grants $3.6 m), $31,225 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Atkins Savings Bank & Trust | $146.2 m · 18.4% share · 1 office | |
| Farmers Savings Bank & Trust | $115.3 m · 14.5% share · 1 office | |
| Chelsea Savings Bank | $108.4 m · 13.7% share · 2 offices | |
| Benton, IA | $182.3 m FY2026 · $31,225/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins Savings Bank & Trust | $146,247,000 | 18.4% | 1 |
| Farmers Savings Bank & Trust | $115,328,000 | 14.5% | 1 |
| Chelsea Savings Bank | $108,369,000 | 13.7% | 2 |
| Nicolet National Bank | $81,971,000 | 10.3% | 1 |
| The Watkins Savings Bank | $75,019,000 | 9.5% | 1 |
| Cedar Valley Bank & Trust | $62,025,000 | 7.8% | 1 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $51,819,000 | 6.5% | 1 |
| Keystone Savings Bank | $46,926,000 | 5.9% | 1 |
| Central State Bank | $38,447,000 | 4.8% | 1 |
| Benton County State Bank | $38,433,000 | 4.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,134 across 11 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 11 banks with deposits in the county = 18.4² + 14.5² + 13.7² + … (8 more) = 1,134
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 #
That is $31,225 per covered job, against 5,838 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $182.3 m / 5,838 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $31,225
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 #
Benton County, IA: 14 findings, 3 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchBenton County, IA's price-to-rent ratio is 38.9, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; 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: priceToRent = 38.86781399007626 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBenton County, IA's price-to-rent ratio of 38.9 ranks 3rd of 1,399 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; 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: priceToRent percentile = 99.85693848354794 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchBenton County, IA's covered employment is -0.1% 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 = -0.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteBenton County, IA's typical home value rose 0.7% from $289,578 in July 2026 to $291,509 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.7% = (291508.60492557194 - 289577.60591046955) / 289577.60591046955 × 100
- 291508.60492557194 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 289577.60591046955 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteBenton County, IA's average weekly wage was 0.4% 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
- +0.4 % = 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.