Lucas County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.03, -93.33.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 28th pct · 2,193rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 35th pct · 64th of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- 39th pct · 1,845th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 16th pct · 83rd of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 25th pct · 2,404th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 19th pct · 80th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 54th pct · 1,474th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 52nd pct · 47th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 26th pct · 2,245th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 38th pct · 61st 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 $180,330 (Aug 2026), +2.1% over one year, +20.2% over five
- 28th pct · 2,193rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 35th pct · 64th of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas County, IA | $180,330 · +2.1% 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 $987 a month on $180,330 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,585 a month: 21.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $180,330 × 80% = $144,264, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $987/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,058 × 52 / 12 = $4,585) = 22% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $180,330 / ($1,058 × 52) = 3.3
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 #
3,103 jobs at 244 employers (2026 Q1); -6.4% jobs and +5.3% average weekly wage over the year
- 25th pct · 2,404th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 19th pct · 80th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas County, IA | 3,103 jobs · $1,058/wk · -6.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 338 | $624 | 1.12 | -0.6% |
| Manufacturing | 201 | $1,347 | 0.81 | -47.9% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 128 | $801 | 5.71 | +50.6% |
| Other services | 85 | $843 | 0.92 | +21.4% |
| Construction | 81 | $933 | 0.50 | -4.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 73 | $878 | 0.34 | -3.9% |
| Finance and insurance | 69 | $1,392 | 0.55 | -6.8% |
| Information | 21 | $495 | 0.37 | +10.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 13 | $559 | 0.27 | +30.0% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Wholesale trade | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | 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 #
$175.1 m in deposits at 3 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,938, highly concentrated. $58.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $56.3 m, grants $1.6 m), $18,753 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Heritage Bank, FSB | $115.6 m · 66.0% share · 1 office | |
| First Interstate Bank | $30.2 m · 17.2% share · 1 office | |
| Peoples Savings Bank | $29.3 m · 16.7% share · 1 office | |
| Lucas, IA | $58.2 m FY2026 · $18,753/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $54.0 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midwest Heritage Bank, FSB | $115,627,000 | 66.0% | 1 |
| First Interstate Bank | $30,171,000 | 17.2% | 1 |
| Peoples Savings Bank | $29,299,000 | 16.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,938 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 66.0² + 17.2² + 16.7² = 4,938
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 | $48,117,754 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $5,144,106 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,249,756 |
| Department of Transportation | $1,377,797 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $712,517 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $458,812 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $128,588 |
| Department of Defense | $866 |
That is $18,753 per covered job, against 3,103 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $58.2 m / 3,103 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,753
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 #
Lucas County, IA: 8 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 6 noted
alertLucas County, IA's covered employment is -6.4% 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 = -6.4 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLucas County, IA's covered employment is -6.4% 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 = -6.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteLucas County, IA's covered employment was 6.4% 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
- -6.4 % = 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
noteLucas County, IA's average weekly wage was 5.3% 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
- +5.3 % = 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
noteLucas County, IA's typical home value fell 0.5% from $181,236 in July 2026 to $180,330 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.5% = (180330.48546244562 - 181235.90046903226) / 181235.90046903226 × 100
- 180330.48546244562 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 181235.90046903226 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
Read all 8 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.