Brule County, SD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 43.73, -99.09.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 57th pct · 1,299th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 46th pct · 27th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $262,610
- 99th pct · 11th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 100th pct · 1st of 50 South Dakota counties · median +3.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- South Dakota counties: not published this period
- 15th pct · 2,730th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 52nd pct · 32nd of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
- 7th pct · 2,980th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 6th pct · 62nd of 66 South Dakota counties · median $978
- 79th pct · 624th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 85th pct · 8th of 50 South Dakota counties · median 5.1
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 $255,976 (Aug 2026), +16.4% over one year, +36.3% over five
- 57th pct · 1,299th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 46th pct · 27th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $262,610
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brule County, SD | $255,976 · +16.4% 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
- South 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 $1,401 a month on $255,976 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $3,510 a month: 39.9% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $255,976 × 80% = $204,781, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,401/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $810 × 52 / 12 = $3,510) = 40% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $255,976 / ($810 × 52) = 6.1
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 #
1,898 jobs at 254 employers (2026 Q1); +0.4% jobs and +1.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 15th pct · 2,730th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 52nd pct · 32nd of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Brule County, SD | 1,898 jobs · $810/wk · +0.4% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 347 | $1,015 | 1.22 | +2.4% |
| Accommodation and food services | 280 | $323 | 1.64 | +2.9% |
| Retail trade | 256 | $580 | 1.38 | +0.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 140 | $1,057 | 1.93 | -4.1% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 68 | $621 | 2.18 | +3.0% |
| Other services | 57 | $817 | 1.00 | +0.0% |
| Professional and technical services | 35 | $881 | 0.27 | -12.5% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 20 | $1,018 | 0.25 | -16.7% |
| Utilities | 11 | $1,434 | 1.47 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Mining, oil and gas | withheld | |||
| Construction | 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 #
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 #
8 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels · 1 stale
Sites found: 8, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHITE RIVER NEAR OACOMA, SD | flow 154.0 ft³/s · no flooding | 37 km |
| ELM CREEK NEAR GANN VALLEY, SD | flow 20.5 ft³/s · no flooding | 39 km |
| Missouri River at Big Bend Dam | no flooding | 44 km |
| CAMPBELL C NEAR LEE'S CORNER | flow 0.00 ft³/s · STALE | 45 km |
| PLATTE CREEK NEAR PLATTE, SD | flow 0.36 ft³/s · no flooding | 46 km |
| MEDICINE CREEK NEAR LOWER BRULE, SD | flow 0.45 ft³/s | 61 km |
| Medicine Creek (SD) near Kennebec | no flooding | 65 km |
| FIRESTEEL CREEK NEAR MOUNT VERNON, SD | flow 0.06 ft³/s · no flooding | 68 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 #
1 wells in 0 named aquifers:
Sites found: 1, 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-435039098263403 | depth 55.0 ft · 2002-09-29 | 54 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 (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$379.2 m in deposits at 4 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,918, highly concentrated. $35.6 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $31.4 m, grants $3.9 m), $18,751 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| First Dakota National Bank | $249.6 m · 65.8% share · 2 offices | |
| First Interstate Bank | $65.2 m · 17.2% share · 1 office | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $64.3 m · 17.0% share · 1 office | |
| Brule, SD | $35.6 m FY2026 · $18,751/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $25.3 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Dakota National Bank | $249,616,000 | 65.8% | 2 |
| First Interstate Bank | $65,219,000 | 17.2% | 1 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $64,322,000 | 17.0% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,918 across 3 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 3 banks with deposits in the county = 65.8² + 17.2² + 17.0² = 4,918
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 | $22,628,657 |
| Department of Agriculture | $5,856,637 |
| Department of Transportation | $2,662,992 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $2,330,117 |
| Department of Education | $1,244,023 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $263,260 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $221,447 |
| Department of Defense | $183,956 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $151,769 |
| Department of Energy | $43,950 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $3,182 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $18,751 per covered job, against 1,898 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $35.6 m / 1,898 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,751
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 #
Brule County, SD: 10 findings, 2 at a watch level and 8 noted
watchBrule County, SD's typical home value is +16.4% 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 = 16.387992582322408 >= 15
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchBrule County, SD's covered employment of 1,898 scores 15 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 52 across South Dakota counties, a gap of 37 points.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- 37 = |15 across US counties - 52 across South Dakota counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteBrule County, SD's average weekly wage was 1.6% 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
- +1.6 % = 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
noteBrule County, SD's typical home value rose 0.6% from $254,323 in July 2026 to $255,976 in August 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- +0.6% = (255975.77661393676 - 254323.20264764281) / 254323.20264764281 × 100
- 255975.77661393676 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08
- 254323.20264764281 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-07
noteBrule County, SD's covered employment was 0.4% 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
- +0.4 % = 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
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.