Pondera County, MT
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 48.23, -112.22.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 61st pct · 1,186th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 43rd pct · 32nd of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
- 96th pct · 108th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 80th pct · 12th of 56 Montana counties · median +4.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- Montana counties: not published this period
- 11th pct · 2,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 41st pct · 33rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
- 23rd pct · 2,471st of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 30th pct · 39th of 56 Montana counties · median $996
- 73rd pct · 806th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 45th pct · 31st 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 $268,337 (Aug 2026), +10.5% over one year, +47.5% over five
- 61st pct · 1,186th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 43rd pct · 32nd of 56 Montana counties · median $296,564
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pondera County, MT | $268,337 · +10.5% 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 $1,469 a month on $268,337 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,991 a month: 36.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $268,337 × 80% = $214,670, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,469/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $921 × 52 / 12 = $3,991) = 37% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $268,337 / ($921 × 52) = 5.6
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 #
1,513 jobs at 225 employers (2026 Q1); +1.0% jobs and +2.4% average weekly wage over the year
- 11th pct · 2,849th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 41st pct · 33rd of 56 Montana counties · median 2,560
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Pondera County, MT | 1,513 jobs · $921/wk · +1.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 223 | $645 | 1.51 | +7.2% |
| Health care and social assistance | 219 | $1,059 | 0.96 | +0.0% |
| Accommodation and food services | 123 | $246 | 0.90 | +12.8% |
| Construction | 114 | $1,139 | 1.44 | -5.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 102 | $1,376 | 1.76 | -3.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 71 | $1,630 | 1.15 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 57 | $938 | 5.22 | +0.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 42 | $966 | 0.49 | -10.6% |
| Other services | 34 | $465 | 0.75 | +3.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 22 | $220 | 0.88 | +29.4% |
| Utilities | 21 | $1,055 | 3.51 | +10.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 21 | $421 | 0.91 | +23.5% |
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 #
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 #
$229.3 m in deposits at 5 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,695, highly concentrated. $47.5 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $46.8 m, grants $677,230), $31,422 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $168.0 m · 73.3% share · 2 offices | |
| Independence Bank | $37.8 m · 16.5% share · 1 office | |
| Glacier Bank | $13.4 m · 5.8% share · 1 office | |
| Pondera, MT | $47.5 m FY2026 · $31,422/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $34.4 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stockman Bank of Montana | $168,020,000 | 73.3% | 2 |
| Independence Bank | $37,847,000 | 16.5% | 1 |
| Glacier Bank | $13,371,000 | 5.8% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $10,052,000 | 4.4% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,695 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 = 73.3² + 16.5² + 5.8² + … (1 more) = 5,695
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 | $28,908,989 |
| Department of Agriculture | $12,311,079 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $4,487,694 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $946,418 |
| Department of Transportation | $414,076 |
| Department of Education | $264,762 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $99,339 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $91,863 |
| Department of the Interior | $55,224 |
| Department of Justice | $0 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | -$37,687 |
That is $31,422 per covered job, against 1,513 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $47.5 m / 1,513 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $31,422
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 #
Pondera County, MT: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchPondera County, MT's covered employment of 1,513 scores 12 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 42 across Montana counties, a gap of 30 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 30 = |12 across US counties - 42 across Montana counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
notePondera County, MT's average weekly wage was 2.4% 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
- +2.4 % = 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
notePondera County, MT's covered employment was 1.0% 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
- +1 % = 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
notePondera County, MT's typical home value rose 0.4% from $267,143 in July 2026 to $268,337 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.4% = (268337.23421661573 - 267143.3055503492) / 267143.3055503492 × 100
- 268337.23421661573 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 267143.3055503492 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
notePondera County, MT's typical home value of +10.5% ranks 108th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of +2.9%.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 97 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.yoyPct
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 6 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.