68th pct · 969th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
Home value, one year
+2.9%
as of August 2026
49th pct · 1,561st of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
Typical rent
$1,212
as of August 2026
23rd pct · 1,071st of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
Jobs
45,943
as of 2026 Q1-01
83rd pct · 547th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
Average weekly wage
$1,306
as of 2026 Q1-01
85th pct · 470th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
Years of wages per home
4.3
51st pct · 1,488th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
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.
Typical home $295,094 (Aug 2026), +2.9% over one year, +20.5% over five
68th pct · 969th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
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.
Item
Value
Distance
Story County
$295,094 · +2.9% 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.
Principal and interest of $1,615 a month on $295,094 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,659 a month: 28.5% of one job’s pay.
payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $295,094 × 80% = $236,075, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,615/mo principal and interest
wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,306 × 52 / 12 = $5,659) = 29% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
years of wages = $295,094 / ($1,306 × 52) = 4.3
price-to-rent = $295,094 / ($1,212 × 12) = 20.3
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.
45,943 jobs at 3,017 employers (2026 Q1); -2.2% jobs and +2.3% average weekly wage over the year
83rd pct · 547th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
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.
Item
Value
Distance
Story County
45,943 jobs · $1,306/wk · -2.2% YoY
BLS QCEW, all ownerships, third month of the quarter. A location quotient of 1.00 means this county has the national share of its jobs in that sector; 2.00 means twice it. A withheld row is a BLS disclosure code N: the cell is absent, not zero.
NAICS sector
Jobs
Avg weekly wage
Location quotient
Jobs over the year
Retail trade
5,095
$647
1.14
-2.6%
Manufacturing
4,781
$1,632
1.29
-2.9%
Health care and social assistance
4,631
$1,232
0.67
+0.1%
Accommodation and food services
4,346
$390
1.05
-2.4%
Professional and technical services
2,420
$2,365
0.76
-0.7%
Construction
1,761
$1,373
0.73
-6.4%
Administrative and waste services
1,659
$891
0.64
-1.3%
Other services
1,041
$1,009
0.76
-9.1%
Wholesale trade
1,031
$1,933
0.59
-6.3%
Finance and insurance
859
$2,111
0.46
-1.0%
Real estate and rental
841
$1,040
1.19
+2.6%
Management of companies
624
$4,022
0.81
-9.0%
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.
$3.1 bn in deposits at 37 offices of 21 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,056, moderately concentrated. $773.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $455.2 m, grants $177.6 m), $16,835 per covered job
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.
Item
Value
Distance
First National Bank, Ames, Iowa
$674.3 m · 21.7% share · 3 offices
U.S. Bank National Association
$353.0 m · 11.4% share · 2 offices
South Story Bank & Trust
$346.8 m · 11.2% share · 4 offices
Story, IA
$773.5 m FY2026 · $16,835/job
MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS
$412.2 m · top recipient FY2026
FDIC Summary of Deposits, June 2026. These are institution offices, not people: the row is a bank's presence in the county.
Institution
Deposits
Share
Offices
First National Bank, Ames, Iowa
$674,339,000
21.7%
3
U.S. Bank National Association
$352,964,000
11.4%
2
South Story Bank & Trust
$346,766,000
11.2%
4
Availa Bank
$328,935,000
10.6%
2
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
$267,015,000
8.6%
1
VISIONBANK OF IOWA
$184,380,000
5.9%
4
State Bank & Trust Co.
$174,330,000
5.6%
1
Bankers Trust Company
$168,105,000
5.4%
1
First Interstate Bank
$136,747,000
4.4%
3
Reliance State Bank
$100,893,000
3.2%
1
Deposit concentration is 1,056 across 21 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 21 banks with deposits in the county = 21.7² + 11.4² + 11.2² + … (18 more) = 1,056
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.
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
USAspending, FY2026, place of performance in this county.
Awarding agency
Obligations
Social Security Administration
$376,561,147
Department of Agriculture
$123,820,995
Department of Energy
$92,930,190
Department of Transportation
$44,117,549
National Science Foundation
$35,654,537
Department of Education
$34,668,759
Department of Veterans Affairs
$32,636,029
Department of Health and Human Services
$20,226,860
Railroad Retirement Board
$3,071,941
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$2,823,728
Department of Commerce
$2,361,266
Department of Housing and Urban Development
$1,708,520
That is $16,835 per covered job, against 45,943 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $773.5 m / 45,943 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $16,835
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.
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
The national indicator set, unfiltered by place.
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
16.50
2026-09-30
-11.7%
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 · %
71.30
2026-10-01
+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 · %
4.10
2026-08-01
+0.0%
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.
FIPS 19169, IA: 8 findings, 1 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchFIPS 19169, IA's covered employment is -2.2% 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 = -2.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteFIPS 19169, IA's average weekly wage was 2.3% 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
+2.3 % = 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
noteFIPS 19169, IA's covered employment was 2.2% 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
-2.2 % = 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
noteFIPS 19169, IA's typical asking rent rose 1.0% from $1,200 in July 2026 to $1,212 in August 2026, on Zillow ZORI.