Decatur County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 40.74, -93.78.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 24th pct · 2,324th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 26th pct · 73rd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- 96th pct · 109th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 94th pct · 6th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 19th pct · 2,586th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 89th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 8th pct · 2,950th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 0th pct · 99th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 44th pct · 1,713th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 70th pct · 30th 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 $171,045 (Aug 2026), +10.5% over one year, +6.3% over five
- 24th pct · 2,324th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 26th pct · 73rd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Decatur County, IA | $171,045 · +10.5% 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 $936 a month on $171,045 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,566 a month: 26.3% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $171,045 × 80% = $136,836, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $936/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $823 × 52 / 12 = $3,566) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $171,045 / ($823 × 52) = 4.0
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 #
2,407 jobs at 229 employers (2026 Q1); +7.7% jobs and -0.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 19th pct · 2,586th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 10th pct · 89th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Decatur County, IA | 2,407 jobs · $823/wk · +7.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 284 | $553 | 1.21 | +2.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 203 | $540 | 2.00 | -12.1% |
| Manufacturing | 108 | $1,174 | 0.56 | +20.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 88 | $1,106 | 0.95 | -5.4% |
| Construction | 63 | $833 | 0.50 | +10.5% |
| Management of companies | 7 | $1,728 | 0.17 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical services | withheld |
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 #
$198.2 m in deposits at 5 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,331, highly concentrated. $55.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $48.8 m, grants $6.1 m), $22,948 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| American State Bank | $64.0 m · 32.3% share · 1 office | |
| First Interstate Bank | $48.9 m · 24.7% share · 1 office | |
| BTC Bank | $36.3 m · 18.3% share · 1 office | |
| Decatur, IA | $55.2 m FY2026 · $22,948/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| American State Bank | $64,033,000 | 32.3% | 1 |
| First Interstate Bank | $48,920,000 | 24.7% | 1 |
| BTC Bank | $36,268,000 | 18.3% | 1 |
| Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri | $33,134,000 | 16.7% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $15,883,000 | 8.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,331 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 = 32.3² + 24.7² + 18.3² + … (2 more) = 2,331
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 $22,948 per covered job, against 2,407 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $55.2 m / 2,407 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $22,948
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 #
Decatur County, IA: 13 findings, 1 at a watch level and 12 noted
watchDecatur County, IA's average weekly wage is -0.1% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -0.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteDecatur County, IA's covered employment was 7.7% 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
- +7.7 % = 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
noteDecatur County, IA's typical home value rose 0.6% from $170,095 in July 2026 to $171,045 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (171044.9729739014 - 170094.5301901313) / 170094.5301901313 × 100
- 171044.9729739014 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 170094.5301901313 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteDecatur County, IA's average weekly wage was 0.1% 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
- -0.1 % = 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
noteDecatur County, IA's average weekly wage of $823 ranks 99th of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of $1,057.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 99 Iowa counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
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.