Big Horn County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 45.41, -107.52.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 47th pct · 1,612th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 27th pct · 41st of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
- 50th pct · 1,511th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 32nd pct · 38th of 56 Montana counties · median +4.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- 28th pct · 2,299th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 69th pct · 18th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 62nd pct · 1,209th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 65th pct · 20th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 43rd pct · 1,721st of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 20th pct · 45th of 56 Montana counties · median 5.8
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 $228,077 (Aug 2026), +3.0% over one year, +29.1% over five
- 47th pct · 1,612th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 27th pct · 41st of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Big Horn County, MT | $228,077 · +3.0% 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
- Montana 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 $1,248 a month on $228,077 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,767 a month: 26.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $228,077 × 80% = $182,462, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,248/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,100 × 52 / 12 = $4,767) = 26% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $228,077 / ($1,100 × 52) = 4.0
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 #
3,542 jobs at 273 employers (2026 Q1); -5.0% jobs and +2.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 28th pct · 2,299th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 69th pct · 18th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Big Horn County, MT | 3,542 jobs · $1,100/wk · -5.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 389 | $660 | 1.13 | +7.2% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 325 | $2,153 | 25.77 | -6.3% |
| Health care and social assistance | 266 | $1,105 | 0.50 | +0.8% |
| Accommodation and food services | 181 | $382 | 0.57 | +0.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 121 | $978 | 4.73 | -11.0% |
| Educational services | 82 | $789 | 1.08 | -1.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 78 | $928 | 0.52 | -9.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 59 | $1,369 | 0.41 | +0.0% |
| Construction | 47 | $1,143 | 0.25 | +0.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 46 | $422 | 0.79 | +7.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 45 | $1,260 | 0.18 | +25.0% |
| Utilities | 43 | $1,800 | 3.07 | -36.8% |
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 #
D2 severe 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 #
23 gauges · 0 flooding · 5 with quality panels averaging 80 % · 10 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prairie Dog Creek near Acme, WY | flow 3.56 ft³/s · quality 0 % (1) · STALE | 71 km |
| Little Bighorn River nr Crow Agency MT | flow 64.9 ft³/s | 19 km |
| Bighorn River at bridge, at St. Xavier, MT | flow 1,760 ft³/s · quality 100 % (1) | 19 km |
| Little Bighorn R bl Pass Cr nr Wyola MT | flow 88.0 ft³/s | 27 km |
| Bighorn River at Two Leggins Bridge, near Hardin | flow 1,960 ft³/s | 28 km |
| Lodge Grass Cr ab Willow Cr diversion, nr Wyola MT | flow 32.2 ft³/s | 33 km |
| Bighorn R bl Yellowtail Afterbay Dam nr St. Xavier | flow 2,000 ft³/s | 33 km |
| Agency Canal Tailwaste near Hardin MT | flow 8.88 ft³/s | 36 km |
| Little Bighorn River near Hardin MT | flow 43.2 ft³/s | 37 km |
| Pass Creek near Wyola MT | flow 18.0 ft³/s · STALE | 41 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 #
5 wells in 0 named aquifers:
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 |
|---|---|---|
| USGS-451838107212901 | depth 7.80 ft · 2011-09-29 | 17 km |
| USGS-450938107350101 | depth 6.12 ft · 2012-11-05 | 28 km |
| USGS-455016107360402 | depth 7.88 ft · 2026-10-05 | 48 km |
| USGS-455024107355601 | depth 7.22 ft · 2015-08-25 | 48 km |
| USGS-452416106413001 | depth 181.6 ft · 2016-10-16 | 64 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 (0.39)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 + 0.2×0.20 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$311.3 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,770, highly concentrated. $188.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $90.9 m, grants $66.2 m), $53,319 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Little Horn State Bank | $216.7 m · 69.6% share · 1 office | |
| First Interstate Bank | $94.5 m · 30.4% share · 1 office | |
| Big Horn, MT | $188.9 m FY2026 · $53,319/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $49.1 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Horn State Bank | $216,722,000 | 69.6% | 1 |
| First Interstate Bank | $94,540,000 | 30.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,770 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 = 69.6² + 30.4² = 5,770
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 | $43,848,383 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $38,469,138 |
| Department of Homeland Security | $33,598,003 |
| Department of Transportation | $26,481,300 |
| Department of the Interior | $18,636,728 |
| Department of Education | $12,849,933 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $4,896,910 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $4,778,160 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,704,503 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $316,980 |
| Department of Energy | $192,302 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $52,060 |
That is $53,319 per covered job, against 3,542 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $188.9 m / 3,542 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $53,319
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 #
Big Horn County, MT: 10 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted
alertBig Horn County, MT's covered employment is -5.0% 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 = -5 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBig Horn County, MT's covered employment is -5.0% 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 = -5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchBig Horn County, MT's covered employment of 3,542 scores 29 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 69 across Montana counties, a gap of 40 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 40 = |29 across US counties - 69 across Montana counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBig Horn County, MT's covered employment was 5.0% 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
- -5 % = 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
noteBig Horn County, MT's average weekly wage was 2.6% 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
- +2.6 % = 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
Read all 10 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.