Butler County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.73, -92.78.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 34th pct · 2,005th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 47th pct · 52nd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- 67th pct · 995th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 48th pct · 51st of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 28th pct · 2,289th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 27th pct · 72nd of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 60th pct · 1,266th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 63rd pct · 37th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 30th pct · 2,144th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 46th pct · 53rd of 99 Iowa counties · median 3.5
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 $194,212 (Aug 2026), +4.5% over one year, +28.5% over five
- 34th pct · 2,005th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 47th pct · 52nd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Butler County, IA | $194,212 · +4.5% 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
- Iowa 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 $1,063 a month on $194,212 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,732 a month: 22.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $194,212 × 80% = $155,369, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,063/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,092 × 52 / 12 = $4,732) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $194,212 / ($1,092 × 52) = 3.4
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 #
3,598 jobs at 429 employers (2026 Q1); +0.2% jobs and +4.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 28th pct · 2,289th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 27th pct · 72nd of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Butler County, IA | 3,598 jobs · $1,092/wk · +0.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 993 | $1,461 | 3.43 | -2.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 461 | $643 | 0.85 | +0.0% |
| Retail trade | 368 | $629 | 1.05 | -4.9% |
| Administrative and waste services | 237 | $1,698 | 1.16 | -8.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 126 | $1,391 | 0.91 | +13.5% |
| Construction | 116 | $898 | 0.61 | +8.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 113 | $182 | 0.35 | +6.6% |
| Other services | 66 | $1,342 | 0.61 | +8.2% |
| Professional and technical services | 61 | $761 | 0.25 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 16 | $493 | 0.27 | -30.4% |
| Information | 12 | $1,583 | 0.18 | +9.1% |
| Educational services | 4 | $1,400 | 0.05 | +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 #
$639.5 m in deposits at 9 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,738, highly concentrated. $119.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $112.9 m, contracts $4.1 m), $33,061 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa State Bank | $339.9 m · 53.2% share · 3 offices | |
| Lincoln Savings Bank | $180.1 m · 28.2% share · 3 offices | |
| Nicolet National Bank | $49.8 m · 7.8% share · 1 office | |
| Butler, IA | $119.0 m FY2026 · $33,061/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $92.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State Bank | $339,896,000 | 53.2% | 3 |
| Lincoln Savings Bank | $180,064,000 | 28.2% | 3 |
| Nicolet National Bank | $49,782,000 | 7.8% | 1 |
| CUSB Bank | $35,035,000 | 5.5% | 1 |
| Green Belt Bank & Trust | $34,678,000 | 5.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,738 across 5 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 5 banks with deposits in the county = 53.2² + 28.2² + 7.8² + … (2 more) = 3,738
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 | $85,194,709 |
| Department of Agriculture | $20,266,590 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $7,519,783 |
| Department of Defense | $3,715,971 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,021,485 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $560,925 |
| Department of Justice | $500,000 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $99,443 |
| Department of Education | $76,305 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $33,061 per covered job, against 3,598 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $119.0 m / 3,598 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $33,061
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 #
Butler County, IA: 5 findings, 5 noted
noteButler County, IA's average weekly wage was 4.9% 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
- +4.9 % = 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
noteButler County, IA's typical home value rose 0.3% from $193,675 in July 2026 to $194,212 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (194211.52947533628 - 193675.4288420185) / 193675.4288420185 × 100
- 194211.52947533628 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 193675.4288420185 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteButler County, IA's covered employment was 0.2% 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
- +0.2 % = 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
noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Butler County, IA is due between 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Butler County, IA is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.
Show the arithmetic
- window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern
estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.