Mesa County, CO
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.02, -108.46.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 89th pct · 332nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 47th pct · 33rd of 62 Colorado counties · median $448,803
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 35th pct · 1,973rd of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 63rd pct · 23rd of 62 Colorado counties · median -0.4%
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 67th pct · 445th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 25th pct · 25th of 33 Colorado counties · median $1,931
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 87th pct · 419th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 85th pct · 10th of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 73rd pct · 847th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 63rd pct · 24th of 64 Colorado counties · median $1,075
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 88th pct · 355th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 57th pct · 27th of 62 Colorado counties · median 6.4
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
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 $428,682 (Sep 2026), +1.6% over one year, +22.6% over five
- 89th pct · 332nd of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 47th pct · 33rd of 62 Colorado counties · median $448,803
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mesa County, CO | $428,682 · +1.6% 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 #
Typical rent $1,730/mo (Sep 2026), +0.7% over one year; price-to-rent 20.6
- 67th pct · 445th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 25th pct · 25th of 33 Colorado counties · median $1,931
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mesa County, CO | $1,730/mo · +0.7% 1-yr |
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 $2,374 a month on $428,682 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,105 a month: 46.5% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $428,682 × 80% = $342,945, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $2,374/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,178 × 52 / 12 = $5,105) = 47% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $428,682 / ($1,178 × 52) = 7.0
- price-to-rent = $428,682 / ($1,730 × 12) = 20.6
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 #
66,300 jobs at 5,868 employers (2026 Q1); -0.5% jobs and +5.1% average weekly wage over the year
- 87th pct · 419th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 85th pct · 10th of 64 Colorado counties · median 4,853
- counties in the Grand Junction metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Grand Junction metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mesa County, CO | 66,300 jobs · $1,178/wk · -0.5% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 12,682 | $1,261 | 1.27 | +1.0% |
| Retail trade | 8,554 | $818 | 1.32 | -2.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 6,905 | $520 | 1.16 | +0.1% |
| Construction | 5,126 | $1,496 | 1.47 | +3.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 3,084 | $1,196 | 1.10 | +8.1% |
| Manufacturing | 2,759 | $1,193 | 0.52 | -5.0% |
| Administrative and waste services | 2,713 | $1,127 | 0.72 | -1.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 2,486 | $1,577 | 0.54 | -2.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 2,332 | $1,583 | 0.92 | -5.2% |
| Other services | 1,962 | $877 | 0.99 | -2.0% |
| Mining, oil and gas | 1,528 | $2,573 | 6.47 | +4.3% |
| Finance and insurance | 1,484 | $1,803 | 0.55 | -0.9% |
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 #
D3 extreme 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 #
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 #
high (0.75)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.75 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$3.8 bn in deposits at 34 offices of 12 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,278, moderately concentrated. $1.2 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.1 bn, grants $76.0 m), $18,851 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Alpine Bank | $779.1 m · 20.7% share · 5 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $735.5 m · 19.5% share · 3 offices | |
| Timberline Bank | $428.6 m · 11.4% share · 1 office | |
| Mesa, CO | $1.2 bn FY2026 · $18,851/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $1.1 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Bank | $779,062,000 | 20.7% | 5 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $735,532,000 | 19.5% | 3 |
| Timberline Bank | $428,645,000 | 11.4% | 1 |
| Grand Valley Bank | $367,365,000 | 9.7% | 5 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $353,728,000 | 9.4% | 4 |
| ANB Bank | $280,203,000 | 7.4% | 4 |
| Bank of Colorado | $277,083,000 | 7.4% | 3 |
| Glacier Bank | $156,152,000 | 4.1% | 2 |
| Home Loan State Bank | $132,299,000 | 3.5% | 1 |
| BMO Bank National Association | $117,580,000 | 3.1% | 3 |
Deposit concentration is 1,278 across 12 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 12 banks with deposits in the county = 20.7² + 19.5² + 11.4² + … (9 more) = 1,278
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 | $894,094,750 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $182,811,997 |
| Department of Transportation | $69,117,825 |
| Department of Education | $27,058,398 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $17,839,942 |
| Railroad Retirement Board | $17,632,518 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $15,591,480 |
| Department of the Interior | $8,607,950 |
| Department of Energy | $5,928,719 |
| Department of Agriculture | $4,576,629 |
| Department of Defense | $3,741,361 |
| General Services Administration | $1,254,384 |
That is $18,851 per covered job, against 66,300 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.2 bn / 66,300 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $18,851
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 | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| 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 · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +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 | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| 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 | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| 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 | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
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 #
Mesa County, CO: 11 findings, 5 at a watch level and 6 noted
watchMesa County, CO's covered employment is -0.5% 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 = -0.5 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchMesa County, CO's price-to-rent ratio of 20.6 scores 79 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 34 across Colorado counties, a gap of 44 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 44 = |79 across US counties - 34 across Colorado counties|
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMesa County, CO's typical asking rent of $1,730 scores 67 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 25 across Colorado counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |67 across US counties - 25 across Colorado counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMesa County, CO's typical home value of $428,682 scores 89 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 48 across Colorado counties, a gap of 42 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 42 = |89 across US counties - 48 across Colorado counties|
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
watchMesa County, CO's years of wages of 7.0 scores 88 on the 0-to-100 scale across US counties but 57 across Colorado counties, a gap of 31 points.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- 31 = |88 across US counties - 57 across Colorado counties|
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 11 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.