Houston County, MN
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 43.67, -91.50.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 75th pct · 762nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 74th pct · 23rd of 87 Minnesota counties · median $276,116
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 60th pct · 1,215th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 48th pct · 45th of 87 Minnesota counties · median +4.1%
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Minnesota counties: not published this period
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 36th pct · 2,060th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 33rd pct · 58th of 87 Minnesota counties · median 7,739
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 23rd pct · 2,460th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 6th pct · 81st of 87 Minnesota counties · median $1,102
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 86th pct · 404th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 97th pct · 3rd of 87 Minnesota counties · median 4.6
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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 $325,878 (Aug 2026), +3.9% over one year, +37.9% over five
- 75th pct · 762nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 74th pct · 23rd of 87 Minnesota counties · median $276,116
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Houston County, MN | $325,878 · +3.9% 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.
Rents #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- Minnesota counties: not published this period
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska 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 $1,784 a month on $325,878 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,995 a month: 44.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $325,878 × 80% = $260,702, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,784/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $922 × 52 / 12 = $3,995) = 45% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $325,878 / ($922 × 52) = 6.8
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 #
4,781 jobs at 480 employers (2026 Q1); -3.3% jobs and +0.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 36th pct · 2,060th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 33rd pct · 58th of 87 Minnesota counties · median 7,739
- counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the La Crosse-Onalaska metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Houston County, MN | 4,781 jobs · $922/wk · -3.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 460 | $557 | 0.99 | +2.9% |
| Manufacturing | 373 | $1,121 | 0.97 | +4.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 355 | $1,200 | 1.76 | -32.4% |
| Construction | 327 | $1,391 | 1.30 | -2.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 317 | $259 | 0.74 | +4.6% |
| Other services | 178 | $580 | 1.25 | -5.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 135 | $630 | 3.91 | -2.2% |
| Administrative and waste services | 121 | $1,074 | 0.45 | -4.0% |
| Information | 93 | $1,488 | 1.06 | -24.4% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 47 | $388 | 0.60 | +14.6% |
| Wholesale trade | 34 | $837 | 0.19 | -19.0% |
| Finance and insurance | 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 #
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 #
102 gauges · 0 flooding · 2 with quality panels averaging 100 % · 23 stale
Sites found: 102, 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-05385500 | flow 208.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 9 km |
| USGS-05385000 | flow 1,040 ft³/s · no flooding | 13 km |
| USGS-05387030 | stage 6.64 ft · no flooding | 13 km |
| Root River near Mound Prairie | no flooding | 13 km |
| Bridge Creek near Houston | no readings | 14 km |
| USGS-05386400 | stage 31.1 ft · no flooding | 19 km |
| USGS-05384800 | stage 7.48 ft | 19 km |
| USGS-05388310 | stage 7.18 ft · no flooding | 24 km |
| Mississippi River below Lock and Dam 8 - Genoa | no flooding | 24 km |
| Mississippi River at La Crosse - Pool 8 | no flooding | 25 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 #
13 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 13, 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-433928091102501 | depth 42.1 ft · 2022-07-25 | 26 km |
| USGS-433931091103501 | depth 40.4 ft · 2026-09-13 | 26 km |
| USGS-434342090495601 | depth 5.17 ft · 2026-07-09 | 54 km |
| USGS-435723092171801 | depth 7.98 ft · 2024-08-13 | 71 km |
| USGS-430145091253002 | depth 167.8 ft · 1990-01-10 | 71 km |
| USGS-430145091253004 | depth 15.2 ft · 1990-12-23 | 71 km |
| USGS-430145091253003 | depth 68.2 ft · 1990-06-17 | 71 km |
| USGS-430133091344802 | depth 208.6 ft · 1991-09-29 | 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 #
$557.5 m in deposits at 9 offices of 5 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,418, highly concentrated. $136.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $135.9 m, contracts $404,917), $28,598 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Merchants Bank, National Association | $322.0 m · 57.7% share · 3 offices | |
| ESB Bank | $179.1 m · 32.1% share · 3 offices | |
| Alerus Financial, National Association | $28.5 m · 5.1% share · 1 office | |
| Houston, MN | $136.7 m FY2026 · $28,598/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $130.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merchants Bank, National Association | $321,964,000 | 57.7% | 3 |
| ESB Bank | $179,118,000 | 32.1% | 3 |
| Alerus Financial, National Association | $28,463,000 | 5.1% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $27,978,000 | 5.0% | 1 |
| Rushford State Bank (Incorporated) | $0 | 0.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,418 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 = 57.7² + 32.1² + 5.1² + … (1 more) = 4,418
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 | $117,893,537 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $10,435,251 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,547,676 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $2,308,999 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $1,754,881 |
| Department of Defense | $400,717 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $217,528 |
| Department of Transportation | $86,732 |
| Department of Education | $78,307 |
| Department of the Interior | $4,200 |
That is $28,598 per covered job, against 4,781 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $136.7 m / 4,781 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,598
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 #
Houston County, MN: 11 findings, 1 at an alert level, 1 at a watch level and 9 noted
alertHouston County, MN's covered employment is -3.3% against a year earlier, an alert level here: covered employment at least 3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; 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.emp = -3.3 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchHouston County, MN's covered employment is -3.3% 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 = -3.3 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteHouston County, MN's covered employment was 3.3% 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
- -3.3 % = 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
noteHouston County, MN's average weekly wage was 0.4% 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
- +0.4 % = 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
noteHouston County, MN's typical home value rose 0.3% from $324,834 in July 2026 to $325,878 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.3% = (325877.5054702961 - 324833.66860778775) / 324833.66860778775 × 100
- 325877.5054702961 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 324833.66860778775 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
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.