Luce County, MI
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 46.51, -85.52.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 9th pct · 2,780th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 83rd of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
- 86th pct · 428th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 64th pct · 30th of 83 Michigan counties · median +5.7%
- US counties: not published this period
- Michigan counties: not published this period
- 15th pct · 2,726th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 78th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
- 17th pct · 2,668th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 14th pct · 71st of 83 Michigan counties · median $1,045
- 16th pct · 2,560th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 4th pct · 79th 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 $131,256 (Aug 2026), +7.0% over one year, +2.6% over five
- 9th pct · 2,780th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 0th pct · 83rd of 83 Michigan counties · median $226,891
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Luce County, MI | $131,256 · +7.0% 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
- 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 $718 a month on $131,256 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,848 a month: 18.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $131,256 × 80% = $105,005, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $718/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $888 × 52 / 12 = $3,848) = 19% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $131,256 / ($888 × 52) = 2.8
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 #
1,922 jobs at 195 employers (2026 Q1); +1.6% jobs and -0.9% average weekly wage over the year
- 15th pct · 2,726th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 6th pct · 78th of 83 Michigan counties · median 12,414
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Luce County, MI | 1,922 jobs · $888/wk · +1.6% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 365 | $419 | 2.11 | +3.1% |
| Retail trade | 266 | $616 | 1.42 | +2.7% |
| Health care and social assistance | 110 | $559 | 0.38 | +14.6% |
| Information | 47 | $1,945 | 1.33 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 46 | $776 | 3.31 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 45 | $607 | 0.78 | +7.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 25 | $724 | 0.34 | -3.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 8 | $917 | 0.25 | -33.3% |
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | 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 #
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 #
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 #
5 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 2 stale
Sites found: 5, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| TAHQUAMENON RIVER NEAR PARADISE, MI | flow 314.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 20 km |
| BLACK RIVER NEAR GARNET, MI | flow 6.06 ft³/s | 45 km |
| DRIGGS RVR NR C3 POOL NR DIVER. DITCH NR SENEY, MI | flow 99.0 ft³/s · STALE | 50 km |
| WALSH CREEK NEAR SENEY, MI | flow 10.0 ft³/s · STALE | 54 km |
| MANISTIQUE RIVER NEAR MANISTIQUE, MI | flow 484.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 73 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 #
3 wells in 2 named aquifers: Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions)
Sites found: 3, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system | depth 5.49 ft · 1992-07-08 | 41 km |
| Sand and gravel aquifers (glaciated regions) | depth 22.2 ft · 2026-10-05 | 62 km |
| Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system | depth 13.7 ft · 2003-09-29 | 65 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 #
moderate (0.25)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.25 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$130.2 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,349, highly concentrated. $46.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $41.7 m, grants $4.7 m), $24,213 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolet National Bank | $82.3 m · 63.2% share · 1 office | |
| The First National Bank of St. Ignace | $47.9 m · 36.8% share · 1 office | |
| Luce, MI | $46.5 m FY2026 · $24,213/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $41.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolet National Bank | $82,324,000 | 63.2% | 1 |
| The First National Bank of St. Ignace | $47,911,000 | 36.8% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,349 across 2 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 2 banks with deposits in the county = 63.2² + 36.8² = 5,349
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 | $36,290,222 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $4,856,845 |
| Department of Transportation | $4,541,487 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $381,544 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $150,000 |
| Department of Agriculture | $135,288 |
| Department of Defense | $92,483 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $87,786 |
| Department of the Interior | $26,574 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $4,662 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $0 |
| Department of Education | -$28,924 |
That is $24,213 per covered job, against 1,922 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $46.5 m / 1,922 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $24,213
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 #
Luce County, MI: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
watchLuce County, MI's average weekly wage is -0.9% 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 = -0.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchLuce County, MI's momentum index of 0.39 scores 71 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 39 across Michigan counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |71 across US counties - 39 across Michigan counties|
- momentum = Σ wᵢ · clip(changeᵢ / scaleᵢ, −1, 1) / Σ wᵢ over the terms present; weights and scales: home value 1-yr change 0.3 (±10%), rent 1-yr change 0.15 (±10%), jobs over-the-year change 0.3 (±3%), avg weekly wage over-the-year change 0.25 (±6%)
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteLuce County, MI's covered employment was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
noteLuce County, MI's average weekly wage was 0.9% 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
- -0.9 % = 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
noteLuce County, MI's typical home value of $131,256 ranks 83rd of 83 Michigan counties, against a median of $226,891.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 0 on the 0-to-100 scale across 83 Michigan counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 9 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.