Potter County, SD
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 45.05, -99.96.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 45th pct · 1,662nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 22nd pct · 39th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $262,610
- 31st pct · 2,086th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 24th pct · 38th of 50 South Dakota counties · median +3.6%
- US counties: not published this period
- South Dakota counties: not published this period
- 4th pct · 3,080th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 53rd of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
- 29th pct · 2,256th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 35th pct · 43rd of 66 South Dakota counties · median $978
- 55th pct · 1,376th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 34th pct · 33rd 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 $224,076 (Aug 2026), +1.3% over one year, n/a over five
- 45th pct · 1,662nd of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 22nd pct · 39th of 50 South Dakota counties · median $262,610
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Potter County, SD | $224,076 · +1.3% 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 $1,227 a month on $224,076 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,125 a month: 29.7% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $224,076 × 80% = $179,261, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $1,227/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $952 × 52 / 12 = $4,125) = 30% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $224,076 / ($952 × 52) = 4.5
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 #
731 jobs at 146 employers (2026 Q1); -3.3% jobs and +4.0% average weekly wage over the year
- 4th pct · 3,080th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 20th pct · 53rd of 66 South Dakota counties · median 1,825
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Potter County, SD | 731 jobs · $952/wk · -3.3% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 102 | $940 | 0.93 | +0.0% |
| Retail trade | 96 | $605 | 1.35 | -5.0% |
| Wholesale trade | 77 | $2,082 | 2.75 | -1.3% |
| Construction | 56 | $821 | 1.46 | +0.0% |
| Other services | 29 | $768 | 1.33 | +11.5% |
| Professional and technical services | 7 | $1,195 | 0.14 | +0.0% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | withheld | |||
| Utilities | withheld | |||
| Manufacturing | withheld | |||
| Transportation and warehousing | withheld | |||
| Information | withheld | |||
| Finance and insurance | 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 #
D2 severe drought
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 #
2 gauges · 0 flooding · 0 with quality panels
Sites found: 2, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| MOREAU RIVER AT PROMISE, SD | stage 6.07 ft | 60 km |
| MOREAU RIVER NEAR WHITEHORSE, SD | flow 29.6 ft³/s | 73 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-453027099505001 | depth 22.1 ft · 2026-10-06 | 51 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 #
high (0.50)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.50 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$206.8 m in deposits at 3 offices of 3 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 4,464, highly concentrated. $5.8 m federal obligations in FY2026 (grants $5.2 m, contracts $675,064), $7,976 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Plains Commerce Bank | $124.4 m · 60.2% share · 1 office | |
| First Interstate Bank | $51.5 m · 24.9% share · 1 office | |
| BMO Bank National Association | $30.8 m · 14.9% share · 1 office | |
| Potter, SD | $5.8 m FY2026 · $7,976/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $14.2 m · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plains Commerce Bank | $124,404,000 | 60.2% | 1 |
| First Interstate Bank | $51,510,000 | 24.9% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $30,840,000 | 14.9% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 4,464 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 = 60.2² + 24.9² + 14.9² = 4,464
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 | $13,359,467 |
| Department of Agriculture | $10,785,690 |
| Department of Transportation | $5,757,095 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $879,451 |
| Department of Energy | $44,237 |
| Federal Communications Commission | $35,467 |
| Department of Education | $20,575 |
| Small Business Administration | $0 |
That is $7,976 per covered job, against 731 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $5.8 m / 731 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $7,976
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 #
Potter County, SD: 9 findings, 1 at an alert level, 2 at a watch level and 6 noted
alertPotter County, SD's covered employment is -3.3% 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 = -3.3 <= -3
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchPotter County, SD's covered employment is -3.3% 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 = -3.3 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchPotter County, SD's typical home value is -1.6% against the previous month, a watch level here: typical home value at least 1 percent below the previous month (arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; 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.momPct = -1.6212344219791537 <= -1
- month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
arithmetic on the Zillow ZHVI month columns; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
notePotter County, SD's average weekly wage was 4.0% 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
- +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
notePotter County, SD's covered employment was 3.3% 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
- -3.3 % = 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 9 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.