Kalkaska County, MI
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 44.68, -85.09.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 46th pct · 1,626th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 50th pct · 42nd of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 16th pct · 2,554th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 0th pct · 83rd of 83 Michigan counties · median +5.7%
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Michigan counties: not published this period
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 36th pct · 2,048th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 23rd pct · 64th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 73rd pct · 853rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 76th pct · 20th of 83 Michigan counties · median $1,045
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 37th pct · 1,927th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 31st pct · 57th of 83 Michigan counties · median 4.1
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $226,891 (Aug 2026), -0.7% over one year, +16.2% over five
- 46th pct · 1,626th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 50th pct · 42nd of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kalkaska County, MI | $226,891 · -0.7% 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
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $1,242 a month on $226,891 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,096 a month: 24.4% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $226,891 × 80% = $181,512, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,242/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,176 × 52 / 12 = $5,096) = 24% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $226,891 / ($1,176 × 52) = 3.7
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 #
4,851 jobs at 395 employers (2026 Q1); +3.9% jobs and +3.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 36th pct · 2,048th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 23rd pct · 64th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- counties in the Traverse City metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 4 counties in the Traverse City metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Kalkaska County, MI | 4,851 jobs · $1,176/wk · +3.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative and waste services | 674 | $1,458 | 2.44 | +23.4% |
| Construction | 557 | $1,678 | 2.19 | +4.9% |
| Retail trade | 469 | $787 | 0.99 | +6.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 414 | $421 | 0.95 | -2.6% |
| Manufacturing | 299 | $1,042 | 0.77 | +8.7% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 269 | $1,669 | 15.57 | -15.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 207 | $1,527 | 1.11 | -2.4% |
| Other services | 171 | $704 | 1.18 | +48.7% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 151 | $837 | 4.31 | +7.1% |
| Professional and technical services | 67 | $958 | 0.20 | -9.5% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 45 | $693 | 0.56 | +36.4% |
| Real estate and rental | 43 | $977 | 0.58 | -8.5% |
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 #
No reservoir gauges within 150 km (or the camera is above the gauge altitude)
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 #
23 gauges · 0 flooding · 7 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 5 stale
Sites found: 23, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| MANISTEE RIVER NEAR GRAYLING, MI | flow 205.0 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) | 19 km |
| BOARDMAN R ABOVE BROWN BRIDGE ROAD NR MAYFIELD, MI | flow 99.5 ft³/s | 28 km |
| AU SABLE RIVER AT GRAYLING, MI | flow 79.0 ft³/s · STALE | 30 km |
| INTERMEDIATE RIVER AT STATE HWY-88 AT BELLAIRE, MI | flow 214.0 ft³/s · STALE | 35 km |
| USGS-442400084472801 | stage 8.12 ft | 39 km |
| USGS-445512084415301 | stage 3.67 ft | 42 km |
| USGS-442805084411001 | stage 5.29 ft | 43 km |
| SB AU SABLE RIVER AT CHASE BRIDGE NR ROSCOMMON, MI | temp 7.40 °C · quality 100 % (1) · STALE | 45 km |
| USGS-450415085153501 | stage 7.15 ft | 46 km |
| BUTTERFIELD CR AT S MCVETY RD NR BUTTERFIELD, MI | flow 18.1 ft³/s | 47 km |
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 #
6 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 6, 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.
| Site | Reading | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-443921085213501 | depth 24.2 ft · 2026-10-05 | 22 km |
| USGS-443925084445301 | depth 7.78 ft · 1973-12-31 | 27 km |
| USGS-442722084350701 | depth 4.83 ft · 1996-09-30 | 46 km |
| USGS-441503084242201 | depth 23.0 ft · 1967-07-12 | 54 km |
| USGS-443308084245001 | depth 28.0 ft · 1992-03-29 | 55 km |
| USGS-451700084454801 | depth 74.1 ft · 1953-10-08 | 72 km |
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 + 0.2×0.00 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$104.0 m in deposits at 1 offices of 1 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 10,000, highly concentrated. $137.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $133.5 m, grants $3.6 m), $28,275 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $104.0 m · 100.0% share · 1 office | |
| Kalkaska, MI | $137.2 m FY2026 · $28,275/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $131.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | $104,029,000 | 100.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 10,000 across 1 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 1 banks with deposits in the county = 100.0² = 10,000
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 | $117,418,030 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $13,557,071 |
| Department of Transportation | $3,559,191 |
| Department of Agriculture | $966,949 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $928,550 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $343,478 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $301,948 |
| Department of Education | $43,916 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $39,833 |
| Department of Defense | $3,158 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $28,275 per covered job, against 4,851 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $137.2 m / 4,851 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,275
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 | 2026-10-06 | +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 #
Kalkaska County, MI: 7 findings, 1 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchKalkaska County, MI's typical home value is -0.7% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -0.6675531981022274 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteKalkaska County, MI's covered employment was 3.9% 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
- +3.9 % = 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
noteKalkaska County, MI's average weekly wage was 3.2% 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
- +3.2 % = 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
noteKalkaska County, MI's typical home value fell 0.6% from $228,343 in July 2026 to $226,891 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.6% = (226890.52227313037 - 228342.67012434054) / 228342.67012434054 × 100
- 226890.52227313037 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 228342.67012434054 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteKalkaska County, MI's typical home value of -0.7% ranks 83rd of 83 Michigan counties, against a median of +5.7%.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 83 Michigan counties that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 7 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.