Garfield County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 47.27, -107.00.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 72nd pct · 848th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 56th pct · 25th of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
- 99th pct · 4th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 100th pct · 1st of 56 Montana counties · median +4.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- 0th pct · 3,191st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 5th pct · 53rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 2nd pct · 3,141st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 1st pct · 55th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 94th pct · 162nd of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 76th pct · 14th 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 $314,159 (Aug 2026), +22.2% over one year, +95.7% over five
- 72nd pct · 848th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 56th pct · 25th of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garfield County, MT | $314,159 · +22.2% 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
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 $1,720 a month on $314,159 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,029 a month: 56.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $314,159 × 80% = $251,327, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,720/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $699 × 52 / 12 = $3,029) = 57% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $314,159 / ($699 × 52) = 8.6
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 #
295 jobs at 67 employers (2026 Q1); -5.8% jobs and +8.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 0th pct · 3,191st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 5th pct · 53rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garfield County, MT | 295 jobs · $699/wk · -5.8% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale trade | 25 | $712 | 2.21 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 11 | $683 | 1.25 | +10.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Construction | withheld | |||
| Retail trade | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical services | withheld | |||
| Administrative and waste services | withheld | |||
| Educational services | 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.
Water #
Banks & federal dollars #
$72.6 m in deposits at 1 offices of 1 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 10,000, highly concentrated. $2.9 m federal obligations in FY2026 (grants $2.7 m, contracts $197,391), $9,780 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Garfield County Bank | $72.6 m · 100.0% share · 1 office | |
| Garfield, MT | $2.9 m FY2026 · $9,780/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $5.5 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield County Bank | $72,597,000 | 100.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 10,000 across 1 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 1 banks with deposits in the county = 100.0² = 10,000
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 | $5,231,774 |
| Department of Agriculture | $3,660,485 |
| Department of Transportation | $2,616,024 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $253,039 |
| Department of the Interior | $197,391 |
| Department of Education | $71,906 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $23,094 |
That is $9,780 per covered job, against 295 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $2.9 m / 295 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $9,780
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 | 3.00 | 2026-10-06 | -50.0% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| 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 #
Garfield County, MT: 17 findings, 1 at an alert level, 3 at a watch level and 13 noted
alertGarfield County, MT's covered employment is -5.8% 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 = -5.8 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchGarfield County, MT's typical home value is +22.2% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value at least 15 percent above a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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: home.yoyPct = 22.23098410735252 >= 15
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchGarfield County, MT's covered employment is -5.8% 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 = -5.8 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchGarfield County, MT's years of wages of 8.6 ranks 162nd 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 = 94.74199869366427 >= 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
noteGarfield County, MT's average weekly wage was 8.5% 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
- +8.5 % = 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
Read all 12 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.