Cherokee County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 42.74, -95.63.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 20th pct · 2,450th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 81st of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- 33rd pct · 2,028th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 11th pct · 88th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 36th pct · 2,058th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 38th pct · 61st of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 44th pct · 1,774th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 29th pct · 70th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 21st pct · 2,414th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 23rd pct · 76th 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 $161,619 (Aug 2026), +1.5% over one year, +22.3% over five
- 20th pct · 2,450th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 81st of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cherokee County, IA | $161,619 · +1.5% 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 $885 a month on $161,619 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,407 a month: 20.1% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $161,619 × 80% = $129,295, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $885/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,017 × 52 / 12 = $4,407) = 20% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $161,619 / ($1,017 × 52) = 3.1
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 #
4,796 jobs at 439 employers (2026 Q1); -0.2% jobs and +4.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 36th pct · 2,058th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 38th pct · 61st of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cherokee County, IA | 4,796 jobs · $1,017/wk · -0.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 845 | $992 | 1.17 | -1.3% |
| Retail trade | 476 | $708 | 1.02 | +0.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 448 | $1,259 | 2.22 | -9.7% |
| Manufacturing | 440 | $1,315 | 1.14 | +2.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 275 | $276 | 0.64 | -3.8% |
| Construction | 252 | $1,138 | 1.00 | +22.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 140 | $1,397 | 0.72 | -0.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 135 | $1,197 | 0.41 | -1.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 84 | $1,272 | 0.46 | +5.0% |
| Other services | 78 | $721 | 0.54 | +5.4% |
| Information | 36 | $871 | 0.41 | -7.7% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 30 | $354 | 0.38 | -3.2% |
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 #
42 gauges · 0 flooding · 2 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 5 stale
Sites found: 42, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Little Sioux River at Cherokee | no flooding | 7 km |
| Mill Creek (NW IA) near Larrabee | no flooding | 11 km |
| Waterman Creek near Sutherland | no flooding | 30 km |
| Maple River at Galva | no flooding | 31 km |
| USGS-06606600 | flow 776.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 32 km |
| USGS-06605850 | flow 425.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 36 km |
| Willow Creek (NW IA) near Oyens | no flooding | 37 km |
| USGS-05482140 | stage 13.4 ft · quality 100 % (1) | 40 km |
| USGS-06600100 | flow 90.8 ft³/s · no flooding | 40 km |
| Floyd River at Le Mars | no flooding | 45 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 #
2 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 2, 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-425603095250401 | depth 18.0 ft · 2014-10-05 | 28 km |
| USGS-431316095135201 | depth 11.9 ft · 2014-10-06 | 63 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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$486.9 m in deposits at 8 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,932, highly concentrated. $102.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $93.4 m, grants $7.7 m), $21,309 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cherokee State Bank | $218.9 m · 45.0% share · 2 offices | |
| Central Bank | $113.8 m · 23.4% share · 1 office | |
| The Farmers State Bank | $67.2 m · 13.8% share · 1 office | |
| Cherokee, IA | $102.2 m FY2026 · $21,309/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $73.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee State Bank | $218,933,000 | 45.0% | 2 |
| Central Bank | $113,834,000 | 23.4% | 1 |
| The Farmers State Bank | $67,164,000 | 13.8% | 1 |
| State Savings Bank | $56,074,000 | 11.5% | 2 |
| United Bank of Iowa | $30,870,000 | 6.3% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 2,932 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 = 45.0² + 23.4² + 13.8² + … (2 more) = 2,932
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 | $66,983,939 |
| Department of Agriculture | $21,996,079 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $6,479,093 |
| Department of Transportation | $6,131,703 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $268,962 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $208,545 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $129,037 |
| Department of Education | $40,763 |
| Department of the Interior | -$38,075 |
That is $21,309 per covered job, against 4,796 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $102.2 m / 4,796 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $21,309
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 | 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 #
Cherokee County, IA: 4 findings, 1 at a watch level and 3 noted
watchCherokee County, IA's covered employment is -0.2% 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 = -0.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteCherokee County, IA'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
noteCherokee County, IA's covered employment was 0.2% lower 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 Cherokee 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
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.