Muscatine County, IA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 41.48, -91.12.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 39th pct · 1,861st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 58th pct · 42nd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
- 80th pct · 613th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 70th pct · 30th of 99 Iowa counties · median +4.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- Iowa counties: not published this period
- 72nd pct · 901st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 13th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
- 89th pct · 352nd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 95th pct · 5th of 99 Iowa counties · median $1,057
- 16th pct · 2,554th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 16th pct · 83rd 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 $206,424 (Aug 2026), +6.0% over one year, +25.0% over five
- 39th pct · 1,861st of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 58th pct · 42nd of 99 Iowa counties · median $194,976
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Muscatine County, IA | $206,424 · +6.0% 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 $1,130 a month on $206,424 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,010 a month: 18.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $206,424 × 80% = $165,139, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,130/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,387 × 52 / 12 = $6,010) = 19% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $206,424 / ($1,387 × 52) = 2.9
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 #
20,654 jobs at 1,213 employers (2026 Q1); -0.7% jobs and +7.8% average weekly wage over the year
- 72nd pct · 901st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 87th pct · 13th of 99 Iowa counties · median 5,685
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Muscatine County, IA | 20,654 jobs · $1,387/wk · -0.7% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 6,657 | $2,042 | 4.01 | -2.7% |
| Retail trade | 1,860 | $671 | 0.92 | -3.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,274 | $345 | 0.69 | +4.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,235 | $885 | 1.05 | -4.7% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 939 | $1,152 | 1.08 | +0.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 840 | $1,877 | 0.59 | +5.7% |
| Other services | 668 | $925 | 1.08 | -1.6% |
| Construction | 655 | $1,058 | 0.60 | +3.5% |
| Management of companies | 640 | $2,494 | 1.85 | +1.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 391 | $1,779 | 0.46 | -4.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 388 | $1,473 | 0.49 | -2.0% |
| Utilities | 178 | $2,598 | 2.18 | +1.7% |
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 #
$1.3 bn in deposits at 15 offices of 7 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,597, highly concentrated. $285.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $248.1 m, contracts $28.5 m), $13,808 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| CBI Bank & Trust | $439.9 m · 35.0% share · 4 offices | |
| Nicolet National Bank | $394.8 m · 31.4% share · 4 offices | |
| Community Bank and Trust Company | $219.5 m · 17.4% share · 3 offices | |
| Muscatine, IA | $285.2 m FY2026 · $13,808/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBI Bank & Trust | $439,930,000 | 35.0% | 4 |
| Nicolet National Bank | $394,752,000 | 31.4% | 4 |
| Community Bank and Trust Company | $219,464,000 | 17.4% | 3 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $77,812,000 | 6.2% | 1 |
| South Ottumwa Savings Bank | $76,423,000 | 6.1% | 1 |
| DeWitt Bank & Trust Co. | $43,059,000 | 3.4% | 1 |
| Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank | $7,169,000 | 0.6% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,597 across 7 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 7 banks with deposits in the county = 35.0² + 31.4² + 17.4² + … (4 more) = 2,597
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 $13,808 per covered job, against 20,654 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $285.2 m / 20,654 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $13,808
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 #
Muscatine County, IA: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchMuscatine County, IA's covered employment is -0.7% 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 = -0.7 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteMuscatine County, IA's average weekly wage was 7.8% 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
- +7.8 % = 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
noteMuscatine County, IA's covered employment was 0.7% 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
- -0.7 % = 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
noteMuscatine County, IA's typical home value rose 0.6% from $205,210 in July 2026 to $206,424 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (206424.26802468204 - 205210.27405999947) / 205210.27405999947 × 100
- 206424.26802468204 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 205210.27405999947 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteMuscatine County, IA's average weekly wage of $1,387 ranks 5th of 99 Iowa counties, against a median of $1,057.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 96 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 6 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.