Carbon County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 45.22, -109.03.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 94th pct · 183rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 83rd pct · 10th of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 64th pct · 1,099th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 52nd pct · 27th of 56 Montana counties · median +4.1%
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 24th pct · 2,438th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 56th pct · 25th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 19th pct · 2,604th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 29th pct · 40th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 98th pct · 55th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 94th pct · 4th of 56 Montana counties · median 5.8
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings 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 $512,549 (Aug 2026), +4.2% over one year, +37.1% over five
- 94th pct · 183rd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 83rd pct · 10th of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon County, MT | $512,549 · +4.2% 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
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings 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 $2,806 a month on $512,549 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,900 a month: 71.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $512,549 × 80% = $410,039, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $2,806/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $900 × 52 / 12 = $3,900) = 72% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $512,549 / ($900 × 52) = 11.0
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 #
2,992 jobs at 641 employers (2026 Q1); -3.4% jobs and +1.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 24th pct · 2,438th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 56th pct · 25th of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- counties in the Billings metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 3 counties in the Billings metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon County, MT | 2,992 jobs · $900/wk · -3.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 455 | $509 | 1.69 | -11.1% |
| Health care and social assistance | 280 | $1,132 | 0.62 | +10.2% |
| Retail trade | 268 | $638 | 0.92 | -6.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 249 | $420 | 5.06 | -8.1% |
| Construction | 208 | $989 | 1.33 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 125 | $956 | 5.78 | -42.4% |
| Administrative and waste services | 112 | $971 | 0.66 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 111 | $1,591 | 0.54 | -1.8% |
| Other services | 102 | $653 | 1.14 | -2.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 86 | $1,033 | 0.68 | +95.5% |
| Manufacturing | 81 | $1,283 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 78 | $1,118 | 0.68 | +11.4% |
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 #
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 #
high (0.50)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$252.9 m in deposits at 4 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,501, highly concentrated. $85.7 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $86.4 m, contracts $2.1 m), $28,647 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Bridger, National Association | $166.5 m · 65.8% share · 3 offices | |
| First Interstate Bank | $86.4 m · 34.2% share · 1 office | |
| Carbon, MT | $85.7 m FY2026 · $28,647/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $85.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of Bridger, National Association | $166,472,000 | 65.8% | 3 |
| First Interstate Bank | $86,399,000 | 34.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,501 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 = 65.8² + 34.2² = 5,501
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 | $73,655,468 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $9,796,181 |
| Department of Agriculture | $2,786,269 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $1,806,476 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $243,291 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $147,679 |
| Department of Defense | $141,383 |
| Department of Justice | $125,000 |
| Department of Education | $105,784 |
| Department of the Interior | $0 |
| Department of Transportation | -$3,095,411 |
That is $28,647 per covered job, against 2,992 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $85.7 m / 2,992 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $28,647
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 | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| 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 #
Carbon County, MT: 10 findings, 1 at an alert level, 4 at a watch level and 5 noted
alertCarbon County, MT's covered employment is -3.4% 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 = -3.4 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCarbon County, MT's years of wages of 11.0 ranks 55th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; 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: yearsOfWages percentile = 98.23644676681907 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchCarbon County, MT's covered employment is -3.4% 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 = -3.4 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchCarbon County, MT's years of wages is 11.0, a watch level here: typical home value worth 10 or more years of one average covered wage (typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; 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 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages = 10.95190292284544 >= 10
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchCarbon County, MT's covered employment of 2,992 scores 24 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 56 across Montana counties, a gap of 32 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 32 = |24 across US counties - 56 across Montana counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
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.