Benson County, ND
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 48.07, -99.35.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 12th pct · 2,680th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 14th pct · 37th of 43 North Dakota counties · median $198,465
- 47th pct · 1,619th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 16th pct · 36th of 43 North Dakota counties · median +6.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- North Dakota counties: not published this period
- 16th pct · 2,698th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 57th pct · 23rd of 53 North Dakota counties · median 1,520
- 42nd pct · 1,864th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 30th pct · 37th of 53 North Dakota counties · median $1,064
- 14th pct · 2,630th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 19th pct · 35th of 43 North Dakota counties · median 3.3
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 $141,578 (Aug 2026), +2.7% over one year, -14.6% over five
- 12th pct · 2,680th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 14th pct · 37th of 43 North Dakota counties · median $198,465
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Benson County, ND | $141,578 · +2.7% 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
- North Dakota 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 $775 a month on $141,578 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,351 a month: 17.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $141,578 × 80% = $113,262, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $775/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,004 × 52 / 12 = $4,351) = 18% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $141,578 / ($1,004 × 52) = 2.7
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 #
1,996 jobs at 144 employers (2026 Q1); +1.2% jobs and -2.5% average weekly wage over the year
- 16th pct · 2,698th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 57th pct · 23rd of 53 North Dakota counties · median 1,520
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Benson County, ND | 1,996 jobs · $1,004/wk · +1.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale trade | 119 | $2,157 | 1.56 | +2.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | 55 | $437 | 0.18 | -20.3% |
| Construction | 54 | $695 | 0.52 | -23.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 17 | $1,418 | 0.20 | +41.7% |
| Retail trade | 12 | $353 | 0.06 | -29.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | withheld | |||
| Real estate and rental | withheld | |||
| Professional and technical services | withheld | |||
| Administrative and waste 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.
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 #
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 #
19 gauges · 0 flooding · 6 with quality panels averaging 71 % · 3 stale
Sites found: 19, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JAMES RIVER ON US HWY 52 NEAR MANFRED, ND | temp 12.0 °C · quality 50 % (2) | 52 km |
| JAMES RIVER NEAR MANFRED, ND | flow 0.00 ft³/s · quality 50 % (2) · STALE | 59 km |
| SHEYENNE R AB DEVILS LK STATE OUTLET NR FLORA, ND | flow 29.3 ft³/s · quality 75 % (2) | 19 km |
| LITTLE COULEE NEAR LEEDS, ND | flow 38.1 ft³/s | 19 km |
| Sheyenne River near Maddock | out of service | 24 km |
| BIG COULEE AT HWY 2 NEAR CHURCHS FERRY, ND | stage 50.2 ft | 24 km |
| SHEYENNE R BL DEVILS LK STATE OUTLET NR BREMEN, ND | flow 41.9 ft³/s · quality 75 % (2) | 28 km |
| STARKWEATHER COULEE NEAR WEBSTER, ND | flow 2.65 ft³/s | 41 km |
| MAUVAIS COULEE TRIB NO. 3 NEAR CANDO, ND | flow 0.39 ft³/s | 44 km |
| Mauvais Coulee near Cando | no readings | 46 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 #
16 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 16, 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-481001099132201 | depth 16.1 ft · 1970-11-30 | 14 km |
| USGS-480351099082101 | depth -1.97 ft · 1970-11-30 | 16 km |
| USGS-480351098552303 | depth 15.0 ft · 1997-05-06 | 32 km |
| USGS-480357099481901 | depth 4.82 ft · 1970-11-05 | 34 km |
| USGS-475139099484801 | depth 75.4 ft · 1999-09-29 | 42 km |
| USGS-482908099134601 | depth 9.80 ft · 2021-06-30 | 47 km |
| USGS-482212099475801 | depth 8.73 ft · 2026-10-05 | 47 km |
| USGS-475224098443202 | depth 15.3 ft · 2021-06-30 | 50 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 #
low (0.11)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 + 0.2×0.29 / 0.55
Banks & federal dollars #
$70.6 m in deposits at 2 offices of 2 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 5,072, highly concentrated. $114.2 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $86.6 m, grants $27.4 m), $57,216 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bravera Bank | $39.5 m · 56.0% share · 1 office | |
| First United Bank | $31.1 m · 44.0% share · 1 office | |
| Benson, ND | $114.2 m FY2026 · $57,216/job | |
| REDACTED DUE TO PII | $35.6 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bravera Bank | $39,546,000 | 56.0% | 1 |
| First United Bank | $31,064,000 | 44.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 5,072 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 = 56.0² + 44.0² = 5,072
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 |
|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | $39,387,030 |
| Social Security Administration | $24,757,239 |
| Department of the Interior | $23,026,242 |
| Department of Transportation | $8,006,982 |
| Department of Education | $7,589,086 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $4,665,030 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $4,261,385 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,185,366 |
| Department of Justice | $609,616 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $379,936 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $52,493 |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | $33,000 |
That is $57,216 per covered job, against 1,996 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $114.2 m / 1,996 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $57,216
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 #
Benson County, ND: 7 findings, 3 at a watch level and 4 noted
watchBenson County, ND's average weekly wage is -2.5% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; 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.avgWeeklyWage = -2.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBenson County, ND's covered employment of 1,996 scores 16 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 58 across North Dakota counties, a gap of 41 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 41 = |16 across US counties - 58 across North Dakota counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchBenson County, ND's typical home value of +2.7% scores 47 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 17 across North Dakota counties, a gap of 30 points.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 30 = |47 across US counties - 17 across North Dakota counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBenson County, ND's average weekly wage was 2.5% 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
- -2.5 % = 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
noteBenson County, ND's covered employment was 1.2% 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
- +1.2 % = 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 7 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.