Iron County, MI
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 46.17, -88.54.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 17th pct · 2,528th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 4th pct · 79th of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
- 98th pct · 47th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 97th pct · 3rd of 83 Michigan counties · median +5.7%
- US counties: not published this period
- Michigan counties: not published this period
- 28th pct · 2,311th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 15th pct · 70th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- 12th pct · 2,821st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 9th pct · 75th of 83 Michigan counties · median $1,045
- 31st pct · 2,106th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 21st pct · 65th of 83 Michigan counties · median 4.1
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 $154,720 (Aug 2026), +12.7% over one year, +40.4% over five
- 17th pct · 2,528th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 4th pct · 79th of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Iron County, MI | $154,720 · +12.7% 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
- Michigan 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 $847 a month on $154,720 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,709 a month: 22.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $154,720 × 80% = $123,776, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $847/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $856 × 52 / 12 = $3,709) = 23% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $154,720 / ($856 × 52) = 3.5
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 #
3,497 jobs at 396 employers (2026 Q1); +7.8% jobs and -3.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 28th pct · 2,311th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 15th pct · 70th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Iron County, MI | 3,497 jobs · $856/wk · +7.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 656 | $859 | 1.92 | +3.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | 312 | $306 | 0.99 | +17.3% |
| Manufacturing | 283 | $932 | 1.01 | +3.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 271 | $1,125 | 0.52 | -4.2% |
| Construction | 194 | $826 | 1.06 | +26.8% |
| Other services | 177 | $667 | 1.69 | +22.9% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 171 | $358 | 2.97 | +41.3% |
| Professional and technical services | 122 | $789 | 0.51 | +3.4% |
| Finance and insurance | 113 | $1,041 | 0.79 | -0.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 55 | $927 | 0.37 | +48.6% |
| Unclassified | 47 | $509 | 6.32 | +67.9% |
| Wholesale trade | 29 | $750 | 0.22 | -3.3% |
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 #
D1 moderate drought
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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$191.1 m in deposits at 4 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,796, highly concentrated. $120.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $110.8 m, grants $9.9 m), $34,532 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Interstate Bank, N. A. | $64.9 m · 34.0% share · 1 office | |
| The Miners State Bank | $63.5 m · 33.2% share · 1 office | |
| First National Bank & Trust Co. | $31.7 m · 16.6% share · 1 office | |
| Iron, MI | $120.8 m FY2026 · $34,532/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $109.0 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Interstate Bank, N. A. | $64,918,000 | 34.0% | 1 |
| The Miners State Bank | $63,474,000 | 33.2% | 1 |
| First National Bank & Trust Co. | $31,696,000 | 16.6% | 1 |
| Flagstar Bank, National Association | $31,015,000 | 16.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 2,796 across 4 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 4 banks with deposits in the county = 34.0² + 33.2² + 16.6² + … (1 more) = 2,796
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 | $94,399,772 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $14,118,634 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,970,679 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,863,258 |
| Department of Agriculture | $633,592 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $498,723 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $151,958 |
| Department of Defense | $74,562 |
| Department of Education | $45,884 |
That is $34,532 per covered job, against 3,497 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $120.8 m / 3,497 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $34,532
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 #
Iron County, MI: 11 findings, 1 at a watch level and 10 noted
watchIron County, MI's average weekly wage is -3.1% 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 = -3.1 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteIron County, MI's covered employment 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
noteIron County, MI's average weekly wage was 3.1% 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
- -3.1 % = 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
noteIron County, MI's typical home value rose 0.7% from $153,663 in July 2026 to $154,720 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.7% = (154720.3093652991 - 153663.48714603178) / 153663.48714603178 × 100
- 154720.3093652991 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 153663.48714603178 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteIron County, MI's typical home value of +12.7% ranks 47th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of +2.9%.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 98 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.