Wells County, ND
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 47.58, -99.68.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 10th pct · 2,749th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 39th of 43 North Dakota counties · median $198,465
- 14th pct · 2,616th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 7th pct · 40th of 43 North Dakota counties · median +6.1%
- US counties: not published this period
- North Dakota counties: not published this period
- 10th pct · 2,887th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 30th of 53 North Dakota counties · median 1,520
- 60th pct · 1,285th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 51st pct · 26th of 53 North Dakota counties · median $1,064
- 8th pct · 2,794th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 7th pct · 40th 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 $134,672 (Aug 2026), -1.0% over one year, -37.7% over five
- 10th pct · 2,749th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 9th pct · 39th of 43 North Dakota counties · median $198,465
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wells County, ND | $134,672 · -1.0% 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
- 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 $737 a month on $134,672 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,715 a month: 15.6% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $134,672 × 80% = $107,738, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $737/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,088 × 52 / 12 = $4,715) = 16% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $134,672 / ($1,088 × 52) = 2.4
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 #
1,425 jobs at 214 employers (2026 Q1); 0.0% jobs and +18.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 10th pct · 2,887th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 30th of 53 North Dakota counties · median 1,520
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wells County, ND | 1,425 jobs · $1,088/wk · 0.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 359 | $877 | 1.67 | -0.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 207 | $1,503 | 3.79 | -5.9% |
| Retail trade | 182 | $488 | 1.31 | +1.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 69 | $4,089 | 0.70 | +430.8% |
| Other services | 51 | $763 | 1.20 | +8.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 46 | $355 | 0.36 | -34.3% |
| Manufacturing | 33 | $1,028 | 0.29 | -28.3% |
| Construction | 18 | $888 | 0.24 | -25.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 15 | $1,568 | 0.19 | +0.0% |
| Information | 12 | $563 | 0.46 | -45.5% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 9 | $175 | 0.38 | +12.5% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 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 #
D0 abnormally dry
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 #
$346.7 m in deposits at 5 offices of 4 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,814, highly concentrated. $38.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $36.6 m, contracts $2.2 m), $27,054 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First International Bank & Trust | $186.3 m · 53.7% share · 2 offices | |
| First State Bank of Harvey | $80.8 m · 23.3% share · 1 office | |
| Dakota Heritage Bank | $66.6 m · 19.2% share · 1 office | |
| Wells, ND | $38.6 m FY2026 · $27,054/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $26.9 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First International Bank & Trust | $186,321,000 | 53.7% | 2 |
| First State Bank of Harvey | $80,759,000 | 23.3% | 1 |
| Dakota Heritage Bank | $66,639,000 | 19.2% | 1 |
| Bank Forward | $12,981,000 | 3.7% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 3,814 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 = 53.7² + 23.3² + 19.2² + … (1 more) = 3,814
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 | $22,928,625 |
| Department of Agriculture | $12,840,701 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $2,141,450 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1,850,837 |
| Department of Education | $10,709 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $0 |
| Small Business Administration | -$796 |
| Department of Transportation | -$183,940 |
| Environmental Protection Agency | -$1,035,000 |
That is $27,054 per covered job, against 1,425 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $38.6 m / 1,425 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $27,054
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 #
Wells County, ND: 10 findings, 2 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchWells County, ND's typical home value is -1.0% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; 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 = -1.0334064754496508 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
watchWells County, ND's covered employment of 1,425 scores 10 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 44 across North Dakota counties, a gap of 34 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 34 = |10 across US counties - 44 across North Dakota counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteWells County, ND's average weekly wage was 18.0% 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
- +18 % = 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
noteWells County, ND's typical home value fell 0.8% from $135,728 in July 2026 to $134,672 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- -0.8% = (134672.3322155488 - 135727.58877900816) / 135727.58877900816 × 100
- 134672.3322155488 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 135727.58877900816 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteWells County, ND's typical home value of -1.0% ranks 40th of 43 North Dakota counties, against a median of +6.1%.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 7 on the 0-to-100 scale across 43 North Dakota counties that published home.yoyPct
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.