McLeod County, MN

Home values #

Typical home $299,388 (Aug 2026), +2.5% over one year, +26.6% over five

• 69th pct · 938th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
• 60th pct · 35th of 87 Minnesota counties · median $276,116

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 #

Typical rent $1,288/mo (Aug 2026), n/a over one year; price-to-rent 19.4

• 29th pct · 983rd of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
• 48th pct · 20th of 38 Minnesota counties · median $1,295

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 $1,639 a month on $299,388 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,399 a month: 30.4% of one job’s pay.

• payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $299,388 × 80% = $239,510, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,639/mo principal and interest
• wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,246 × 52 / 12 = $5,399) = 30% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
• years of wages = $299,388 / ($1,246 × 52) = 4.6
• price-to-rent = $299,388 / ($1,288 × 12) = 19.4

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 #

15,449 jobs at 1,029 employers (2026 Q1); -0.4% jobs and +5.9% average weekly wage over the year

• 65th pct · 1,118th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
• 68th pct · 28th of 87 Minnesota counties · median 7,739

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 #

D0 abnormally dry

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 #

low (0.00)

Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35

Banks & federal dollars #

$1.4 bn in deposits at 18 offices of 8 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 2,314, highly concentrated. $242.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $233.0 m, grants $9.4 m), $15,712 per covered job

Deposit concentration is 2,314 across 8 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.

HHI = Σ (share %)² over 8 banks with deposits in the county = 38.2² + 22.0² + 12.8² + … (5 more) = 2,314

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.

That is $15,712 per covered job, against 15,449 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.

per job = FY2026 obligations $242.7 m / 15,449 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $15,712

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.

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 #

McLeod County, MN: 5 findings, 1 at a watch level and 4 noted

1. watchMcLeod County, MN's covered employment is -0.4% 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 = -0.4 < 0

   BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level

2. noteMcLeod County, MN's average weekly wage was 5.9% 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

   • +5.9 % = 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

3. noteMcLeod County, MN's covered employment was 0.4% 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

   • -0.4 % = 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

4. noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering McLeod County, MN is due between 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

   Show the arithmetic

   • window = 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

   estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

5. noteThe next Zillow ZORI typical rent (monthly) covering McLeod County, MN is due between 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

   Show the arithmetic

   • window = 2026-10-14 to 2026-10-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

   estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

Read the full brief

Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.